Millennium Management LLC Has $23.40 Million Stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Millennium Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 66.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,105 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 156,629 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Acuity Brands worth $23,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,703,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position 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 in the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 22,620 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $6,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 134,591 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $39,318,000 after acquiring an additional 24,603 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Acuity Brands stock traded down $2.18 on Monday, reaching $260.22. 139,207 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,626. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. 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 fifty day moving average price of $251.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.77.

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

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AYI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price target 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 for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.