Squarepoint Ops LLC Decreases Stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Squarepoint Ops LLC decreased its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,376 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 7,629 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned about 0.10% of Acuity Brands worth $9,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 172 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price target on shares of Acuity Brands in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE:AYI traded up $3.74 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $263.88. 194,608 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 303,190. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $251.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.77. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $345.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. Acuity Brands's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS. 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%.

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.