Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Bought by Intrepid Capital Management Inc.

Intrepid Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 480.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,088 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,349 shares during the period. Acuity Brands makes up 1.5% of Intrepid Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Intrepid Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $2,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 517.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the second quarter worth $41,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 16.6% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 352 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE AYI traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $322.65. 7,076 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 254,483. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $181.18 and a 12 month high of $337.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a PE ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $308.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $269.78.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is currently 4.46%.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,573,590. This trade represents a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AYI. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of 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 increased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.