Great West Life Assurance Co. Can Purchases Shares of 23,703 Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Great West Life Assurance Co. Can purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI – Get Rating) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 23,703 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,733,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can owned approximately 0.07% of Acuity Brands as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 60.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 165 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 346 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,776 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,224 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,238 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.51, for a total value of $739,573.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,941,540.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Acuity Brands news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,238 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.51, for a total transaction of $739,573.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,941,540.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 2,211 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.31, for a total value of $385,399.41. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,009,429.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $170.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Cowen reduced their price objective on Acuity Brands from $225.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $188.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Finally, Cowen reduced their price objective on Acuity Brands from $225.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.00.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $176.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.54. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.71 and a fifty-two week high of $200.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $176.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 9th. The electronics maker reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $997.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $984.46 million. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 21.40% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 12.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Profile

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Acuity Brands, Inc operates as an industrial technology company, which engages in the provision of lighting and building management solutions and services. It operates through the Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls and Intelligent Spaces Group segments. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.