Guggenheim Capital LLC Lowers Stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Guggenheim Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 75.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,357 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 4,237 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $396,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AYI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $110,236,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 241.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 216,007 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $63,102,000 after purchasing an additional 152,807 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,026,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 135.8% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 180,272 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $52,663,000 after buying an additional 103,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,117,489 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $326,452,000 after buying an additional 103,162 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI traded up $9.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $250.99. 61,308 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 386,787. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $257.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $345.30.

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

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AYI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. William Blair raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price target on Acuity Brands in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $317.60.

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.