Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $20.40 Million Stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,573 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,881 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.32% of Acuity Brands worth $20,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AYI. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 5,666.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 900.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,320,062.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Acuity Brands news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total value of $2,031,048.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,320,062.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $248.91 per share, with a total value of $49,782.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $49,782. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $237.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $254.83 and a 200-day moving average of $243.83. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $154.72 and a one year high of $272.74. The company has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $897.01 million. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 21.22%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is 5.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AYI shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.75.

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.