Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Director Maya Leibman Purchases 200 Shares of Stock

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $49,782. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Acuity Brands stock opened at $252.08 on Friday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.30 and a 52 week high of $272.74. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $257.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.29. The stock has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $905.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.01 million. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 9.81%. On average, equities analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 5,666.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 900.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AYI. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.25.

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.