Two Sigma Advisers LP Increases Stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,700 shares of the electronics maker's stock after buying an additional 16,900 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned 0.26% of Acuity Brands worth $22,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,846 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $6,965,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 6,477 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares during the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 21,285 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $5,862,000 after acquiring an additional 2,773 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $484,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $813,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AYI stock traded up $1.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $324.73. The stock had a trading volume of 218,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,316. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $312.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.49. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $183.95 and a 52-week high of $337.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a PE ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.74 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands's payout ratio is 4.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AYI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective 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 raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.