Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Cuts Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 50.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,940 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 3,999 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Acuity Brands by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Acuity Brands by 85.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Acuity Brands by 20.0% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 402 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Acuity Brands by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 788 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth about $271,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $253.15 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.30 and a 1 year high of $272.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.49.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,320,062.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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