Insider Buying: Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Director Purchases 200 Shares of Stock

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $248.91 per share, with a total value of $49,782.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $49,782. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 0.2 %

AYI traded up $0.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $252.16. The company had a trading volume of 192,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 265,198. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $256.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $149.30 and a one year high of $272.74. The company has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.49.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AYI. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $297,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,709 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 32,859 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,596,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $430,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AYI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.25.

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.