Interval Partners LP Sells 36,207 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Interval Partners LP lowered its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,787 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 36,207 shares during the period. Acuity Brands makes up about 1.0% of Interval Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Interval Partners LP owned approximately 0.57% of Acuity Brands worth $51,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE AYI traded down $2.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $271.72. 164,120 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 304,485. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The business's fifty day moving average is $251.58 and its 200 day moving average is $293.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.98. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands's payout ratio is currently 5.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Acuity Brands in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Acuity Brands has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.