Teza Capital Management LLC Sells 1,323 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Teza Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 39.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,001 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 1,323 shares during the period. Teza Capital Management LLC's holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 159.6% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,046 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC now owns 7,888 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 28,260 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $8,256,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AYI. Wall Street Zen 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 target price on Acuity Brands in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock traded down $2.18 on Friday, reaching $260.22. The stock had a trading volume of 139,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 303,626. The stock has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.49.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.38 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.17 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 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.