Comerica Bank Sells 1,017 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Comerica Bank cut its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,338 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 1,017 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $4,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 911 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,142 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 951 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. raised its position in Acuity Brands by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 1,896 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AYI shares. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price target on Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:AYI traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $256.60. The company had a trading volume of 189,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 303,913. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $345.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.07. The stock has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60.

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. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.16%.

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.