Private Client Services LLC Sells 2,843 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Private Client Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 60.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,870 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 2,843 shares during the period. Private Client Services LLC's holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Acuity Brands by 50.5% in 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 period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Acuity Brands by 40.9% in the 4th 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 period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of NYSE:AYI traded up $7.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $263.54. 54,183 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 351,843. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $250.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.32. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $345.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

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

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AYI. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.60.

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.