Algert Global LLC Sells 3,750 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Algert Global LLC reduced its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 48.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,061 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 3,750 shares during the quarter. Algert Global LLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $1,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 517.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 4,214.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 302 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AYI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE AYI opened at $320.16 on Friday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.93 and a fifty-two week high of $337.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $306.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.89. The stock has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.40.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at $2,573,590. This trade represents a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.