Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,523 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 6,334 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $2,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Acuity Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 4,214.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 302 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

NYSE AYI traded up $5.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $306.39. The stock had a trading volume of 189,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,829. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.12 and a 52-week high of $312.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $278.81 and a 200 day moving average of $259.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market cap of $9.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.41.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.74 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands's payout ratio is presently 4.46%.

Insider Activity at Acuity Brands

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" 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. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted 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, October 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.