Two Sigma Advisers LP Sells 50,000 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lessened its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 61.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,700 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 50,000 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.10% of Acuity Brands worth $9,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Acuity Brands by 63.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:AYI traded down $1.62 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $260.09. 59,624 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 354,678. The firm has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $251.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.38.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.06. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AYI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.60.

About Acuity Brands

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.