Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $1.19 Million Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 70.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,800 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $1,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Acuity Brands by 85.7% during 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. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 20.0% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 402 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 508.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 341 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 61.3% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $252.16 on Monday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $149.30 and a one year high of $272.74. The company has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $257.01 and a 200-day moving average of $219.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.23. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 21.22%. The firm had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.01 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity Brands news, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of the 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,782. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,782. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,320,062.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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