Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Holdings Reduced by Vision One Management Partners LP

Vision One Management Partners LP lessened its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,476 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 48,599 shares during the quarter. Acuity Brands accounts for approximately 8.7% of Vision One Management Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Vision One Management Partners LP owned 0.15% of Acuity Brands worth $12,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AYI. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 517.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth about $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 229.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 244 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

AYI stock traded up $1.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $324.73. 218,350 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,316. The company has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.39. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $183.95 and a 12-month high of $337.99. The stock's 50 day moving average is $312.84 and its 200 day moving average is $271.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.16.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.74 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $324.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.