Vision One Management Partners LP Trims Stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Vision One Management Partners LP trimmed its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 97.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,353 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 45,123 shares during the period. Acuity Brands makes up about 0.2% of Vision One Management Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Vision One Management Partners LP's holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $232,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,703,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $1,899,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 22,620 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $6,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 22.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI traded down $2.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $260.22. The company had a trading volume of 139,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 303,284. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $251.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.69. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $345.30. The firm has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a PEG 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 net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented 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 objective on Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on 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 cut their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Company 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.