Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $13.04 Million Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC cut its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,684 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 12,872 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.21% of Acuity Brands worth $13,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Acuity Brands by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Acuity Brands by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 508.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 341 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 402 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,320,062.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of AYI traded up $5.59 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $255.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 177,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,240. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $256.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.32. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.30 and a fifty-two week high of $272.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.49.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AYI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $289.25.

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.