Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Sold by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund reduced its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,643 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 3,034 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned approximately 0.14% of Acuity Brands worth $10,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 271,485 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 187.8% in the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 330,331 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $79,755,000 after buying an additional 215,547 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 353.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 173,683 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $41,934,000 after buying an additional 135,350 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Acuity Brands by 35.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 407,164 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $98,306,000 after buying an additional 107,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vision One Management Partners LP acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $21,901,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of Acuity Brands stock traded up $8.80 on Friday, reaching $306.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 290,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,292. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $252.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $254.33. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.84 and a 52-week high of $307.24.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.74 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.26 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 4.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded Acuity Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $324.00.

About Acuity Brands

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.