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

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,126 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 1,621 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.08% of Acuity Brands worth $7,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 63.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 172 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Acuity Brands by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AYI shares. StockNews.com upgraded 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 research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:AYI traded down $2.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $270.76. The stock had a trading volume of 11,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 368,226. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.99.

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

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.