Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Stake Decreased by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 22.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,985 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 11,117 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.12% of Acuity Brands worth $11,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This represents a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE AYI traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $330.70. 263,445 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 340,041. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $315.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $284.01. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.64 and a 1 year high of $337.99.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $951.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $955.60 million. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm's revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.72 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.7 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised Acuity Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $304.00 to $370.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $320.00 to $336.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. 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 note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $341.40.

Acuity Brands Company 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.