BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $1.69 Million Stock Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 54.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,800 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 6,849 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $1,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Acuity Brands stock opened at $273.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The company has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year high of $345.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.05.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is 5.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.60.

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.