Retirement Systems of Alabama Lowers Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,760 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 187 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $7,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 402 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 508.9% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 341 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 61.3% during the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total value of $2,031,048.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at $5,320,062.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total value of $2,031,048.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at $5,320,062.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $248.91 per share, with a total value of $49,782.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $49,782. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Acuity Brands stock opened at $254.59 on Friday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.30 and a twelve month high of $272.74. The stock has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $257.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.24.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.23. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 9.81%. The company had revenue of $905.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.01 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $289.25.

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.