<div id="readability-page-1"><p>Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in  Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 72.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,900 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 18,900 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.15% of Acuity Brands worth $13,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.</p><div><p><span></span><span>Get <strong>Acuity Brands</strong> alerts:</span></p></div><ul><li>3 construction stocks you need to know about </li></ul><p>Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in  Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000.  Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in  Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000.  Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in  Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000.  Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in  Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000.  Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of  Acuity Brands by 50.5% during the fourth 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. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. </p><h2>Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.2 %</h2><p>Shares of AYI stock opened at $229.01 on Monday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $272.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $300.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.81 and a 1-year high of $345.30. </p><ul><li>Acuity Brands stock: A good play on falling rates</li></ul><p>Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year.  As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that  Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year. </p><h2>Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement</h2><p>The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Acuity Brands's payout ratio is 5.16%. </p><h2>Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades</h2><ul><li>Acuity Brands Lights Up Opportunity In The Industrial Sector </li></ul><p>Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo &amp; Company cut their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an &#34;equal weight&#34; rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley  set a $335.00 price objective on Acuity Brands in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a &#34;neutral&#34; rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. William Blair upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a &#34;market perform&#34; rating to an &#34;outperform&#34; rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a &#34;buy&#34; rating to a &#34;hold&#34; rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands presently has an average rating of &#34;Hold&#34; and an average price target of $317.60.</p><p><b>Get Our Latest Report on Acuity Brands</b></p><h2>Acuity Brands Company Profile</h2> (Free Report)<p>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.</p><h2>Featured Articles</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than Acuity Brands</li><li>Natural Gas Prices Continue To Rally, These Stocks Should Benefit</li><li>With a 60%+ Upside, There’s Plenty to Love About Lovesac</li><li>3 Healthcare Dividend Stocks to Buy</li><li>J.B. Hunt Transport Overcorrects Into a Buying Opportunity</li><li>Stock Dividend Cuts Happen Are You Ready?</li><li>AppLovin: Can Record Profits Overcome Market Skepticism?</li></ul><p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5ZU0UmU3ltYm9sPUFZSQ?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="650" height="350" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5ZU0UmU3ltYm9sPUFZSQ"/></p><p><em>This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.</em></p><h2>Should You Invest $1,000 in Acuity Brands Right Now?</h2><p>Before you consider Acuity Brands, you'll want to hear this.</p><p>MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Acuity Brands wasn't on the list.</p><p>While Acuity Brands currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.</p><p>View The Five Stocks Here</p>                  </div>

<p>Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 72.7% in Q4, owning 44,900 shares valued at $13.1 million. Other investors also acquired positions in the company. Acuity Brands reported Q1 earnings of $3.73 EPS, beating estimates, with revenue of $1.01 billion. The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share. Analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with an average target price of $317.60.</p>

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Increases Stock Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)