SVB Wealth LLC Buys 87 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

SVB Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,811 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 224,289 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $45,941,000 after acquiring an additional 4,694 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,103,793 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $187,987,000 after buying an additional 161,818 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 6,936 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $414,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 285,055 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $48,548,000 after buying an additional 16,042 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $247.07 on Friday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.30 and a 1-year high of $272.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $255.81 and its 200-day moving average is $216.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,320,062.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.