Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Increases Stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,275 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. owned 0.06% of Acuity Brands worth $5,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AYI. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 148.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,397 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 2,627 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,846 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $6,965,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 42,027 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $11,281,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Acuity Brands in the first quarter worth $757,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in Acuity Brands during the first quarter worth $1,706,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $1,561,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at $2,573,590. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 0.9 %

Acuity Brands stock traded down $2.92 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $330.53. 53,524 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 254,439. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $288.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $174.67 and a fifty-two week high of $334.66.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. Acuity Brands's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. Acuity Brands's payout ratio is currently 4.46%.

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.