Boston Partners Has $183.48 Million Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Boston Partners lowered its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 685,058 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 4,207 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $183,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AYI. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 5,666.7% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of AYI traded down $9.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $230.22. 164,473 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 248,312. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $248.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $251.08. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.49 and a twelve month high of $272.74. The stock has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The electronics maker reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.33. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The company had revenue of $968.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. Acuity Brands’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 18th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Acuity Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, June 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.00.

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.