Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Sold by Captrust Financial Advisors

Captrust Financial Advisors lessened its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 38.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 164,727 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 104,316 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors owned about 0.53% of Acuity Brands worth $48,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth $110,236,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 241.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 216,007 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $63,102,000 after acquiring an additional 152,807 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Acuity Brands by 1,256.1% in the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 161,183 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $47,086,000 after purchasing an additional 149,297 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 135.8% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 180,272 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $52,663,000 after purchasing an additional 103,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,117,489 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $326,452,000 after purchasing an additional 103,162 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:AYI traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $256.60. 189,449 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,913. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $345.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $252.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.10. The company has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

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

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.