Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Acquired by Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC

Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 13.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,584 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the first quarter worth $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 517.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 1.8 %

AYI opened at $326.24 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $301.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.72. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $176.93 and a one year high of $337.99.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is 4.46%.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This represents a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AYI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Company Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch.