Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 43.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,248 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 5,554 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $2,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 13.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 35,499 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $9,776,000 after acquiring an additional 15,433 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 269,043 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $74,092,000 after acquiring an additional 22,781 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in Acuity Brands by 92.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at about $3,273,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Acuity Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $304.00 to $370.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Acuity Brands from $336.00 to $290.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $340.00 to $310.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Acuity Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $330.60.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 1.2 %

Acuity Brands stock traded up $3.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $266.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 413,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 278,591. The stock's fifty day moving average is $297.70 and its 200 day moving average is $304.27. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.64 and a 1-year high of $345.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The company had revenue of $951.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $955.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.72 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.01%.

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.