Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $7.63 Million Stock Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,126 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 1,621 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.08% of Acuity Brands worth $7,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 172 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AYI. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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 target price on shares of Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of Acuity Brands stock traded up $1.39 on Friday, reaching $273.23. 145,626 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,795. The firm's 50 day moving average is $251.74 and its 200-day moving average is $293.11. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year 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. The firm has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The company 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 firm posted $3.38 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands's dividend 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.