Quadrature Capital Ltd Sells 4,899 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Quadrature Capital Ltd cut its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 52.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,431 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 4,899 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd's holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $1,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 517.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Acuity Brands during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 229.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 244 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:AYI traded up $1.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $324.73. 218,350 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,316. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $312.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.39. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $183.95 and a fifty-two week high of $337.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.72.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.74 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This represents a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.