Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 14,105 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,965 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 14,105 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.52% of Acuity Brands worth $32,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound Shore Management Inc CT bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth about $61,001,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 844,969 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $143,907,000 after buying an additional 247,774 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 35.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 709,647 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $120,585,000 after buying an additional 187,128 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 17.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,103,793 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $187,987,000 after acquiring an additional 161,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth $17,321,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

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

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $254.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $257.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.05. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.30 and a 52 week high of $272.74.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.01 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

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

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.