Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Sold by Martingale Asset Management L P

Martingale Asset Management L P lowered its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 15.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,048 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 5,275 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P owned 0.09% of Acuity Brands worth $8,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Acuity Brands by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Acuity Brands stock traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $238.81. 57,191 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 293,193. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.81 and a 1-year high of $345.30. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $279.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $302.04. The company has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.03 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. William Blair raised Acuity Brands from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price target on Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $317.60.

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.