Boston Partners Lowers Stock Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Boston Partners cut its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 7.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 522,519 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 40,320 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $85,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Acuity Brands by 1,192.3% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 168 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Acuity Brands by 37.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 231 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 95.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $181.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The company has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $169.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.24. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.30 and a 12 month high of $202.90.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 4th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.24. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.72 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 12.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 18th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 17th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is presently 4.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $170.00 to $180.00 in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Acuity Brands from $180.00 to $200.00 in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.60.

About Acuity Brands

Acuity Brands, Inc provides lighting, building management system, location-aware solutions in North America and internationally. The company operates through 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-LightTM, AculuxTM, American Electric Lighting, CycloneTM, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, IndyTM, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LEDTM, Luminis, Mark Architectural LightingTM, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOC Wiring Solutions, and Sensor SwitchTM brands.