Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 24.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 95,551 shares of the electronics maker's stock after buying an additional 18,919 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Acuity Brands worth $26,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position 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 buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth about $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 229.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 244 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
A number of research analysts recently commented on AYI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Acuity Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $324.00.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on AYI
In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $1,561,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.
AYI opened at $302.84 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average is $315.66 and its 200-day moving average is $274.91. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.47 and a 1-year high of $337.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.53, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39.
Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The firm's revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.74 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 4.46%.
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.
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