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

Teza Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 39.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund 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 filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Acuity Brands by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 911 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Acuity Brands by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,142 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Acuity Brands by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Acuity Brands by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 951 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. raised its position in Acuity Brands by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 1,896 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.1%

Acuity Brands stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $261.75. 150,251 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,620. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $252.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $345.30.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $1.01 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.38 EPS. Research analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AYI. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price target on Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $317.60.

Acuity Brands 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.