California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,403 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 2,401 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.20% of Acuity Brands worth $12,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AYI. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 5.0% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,709 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 12.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 32,859 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,596,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth about $430,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth about $305,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 14.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 33,707 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,741,000 after buying an additional 4,140 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 0.9 %

AYI opened at $246.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $7.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $257.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.03. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $149.30 and a one year high of $272.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $905.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.01 million. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 9.81%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Two 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,320,062.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,320,062.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 stock was purchased at an average cost of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the purchase, the director now 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 insiders.

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.