Seizert Capital Partners LLC Has $77.47 Million Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 281,308 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 5,435 shares during the period. Acuity Brands accounts for about 3.5% of Seizert Capital Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Seizert Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.91% of Acuity Brands worth $77,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Acuity Brands by 2.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 835,521 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $201,728,000 after acquiring an additional 20,537 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 629,893 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $152,085,000 after purchasing an additional 20,832 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 16.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,007 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $106,201,000 after purchasing an additional 63,159 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 35.7% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 407,164 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $98,306,000 after purchasing an additional 107,171 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 366.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 345,628 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $83,430,000 after acquiring an additional 271,485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This represents a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

AYI stock traded down $3.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $325.87. The company had a trading volume of 251,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,092. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.16. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $176.93 and a 1 year high of $337.99. The company has a market capitalization of $10.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $295.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $264.95.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.74 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $324.00.

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.