Radnor Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Radnor Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,490 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $1,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the first quarter valued at $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 4,214.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 302 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Acuity Brands stock opened at $319.92 on Thursday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.28 and a 1-year high of $331.89. The company has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The business has a 50-day moving average of $283.64 and a 200-day moving average of $261.16.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.46%.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,573,590. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AYI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.00.

Acuity Brands 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.