Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Boosts Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 206,520 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,688 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $60,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 172 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $251.20 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $345.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $252.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.71.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on shares of Acuity Brands in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.60.

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.