Versant Capital Management Inc Purchases 41 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 293 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $86,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,849,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 24.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 95,551 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $26,314,000 after purchasing an additional 18,919 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth approximately $83,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth approximately $31,026,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:AYI opened at $301.60 on Friday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $201.88 and a one year high of $337.99. The company has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $314.73 and a 200-day moving average of $278.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $1,561,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This trade represents a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on AYI shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. William Blair upgraded Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.