Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC Sells 11,644 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC lessened its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 31.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,571 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 11,644 shares during the period. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC owned about 0.08% of Acuity Brands worth $7,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. William Blair upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Acuity Brands has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 0.9 %

AYI traded down $2.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $240.77. 82,036 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 299,687. The company's fifty day moving average price is $262.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $297.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.16%.

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.