Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 14,105 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 160,965 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 14,105 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.52% of Acuity Brands worth $32,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.8% during the third quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 5,938 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,011,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Corp lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.3% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 1,854 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 467 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $289.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity Brands news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total value of $2,031,048.80. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Acuity Brands news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $248.91 per share, with a total value of $49,782.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,782. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at $5,320,062.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

NYSE AYI traded up $3.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $254.41. 203,664 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 232,739. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $257.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $222.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.47. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.30 and a fifty-two week high of $272.74.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.23. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 9.81%. The business had revenue of $905.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.01 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

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.