Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 8.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,841 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 3,144 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.11% of Acuity Brands worth $9,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AYI. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 6,500 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,899,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 2,473 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $722,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $2,952,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 26,413 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $7,716,000 after purchasing an additional 6,901 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Acuity Brands stock opened at $269.67 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $250.82 and a 200-day moving average of $286.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The company has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G 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.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share 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 company's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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