D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Sells 25,969 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 31.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,009 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 25,969 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.18% of Acuity Brands worth $16,654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $581,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 479.2% during the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 307 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $290,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $516,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on 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. 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $271.30 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $251.90 and its 200 day moving average is $293.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $345.30. 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 (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given 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 0.25%. Acuity Brands's 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.

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