Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Has $79.76 Million Stock Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 187.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 330,331 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 215,547 shares during the period. Acuity Brands makes up 0.8% of Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned 1.07% of Acuity Brands worth $79,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $649,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 835,521 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $201,728,000 after buying an additional 20,537 shares during the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $441,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,846 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,965,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $248.05 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $243.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.96. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.79 and a 12-month high of $272.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.41.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The electronics maker reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $996.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 18th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on AYI shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Acuity Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $279.00.

About Acuity Brands

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.