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

Fisher Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 160,965 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 14,105 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $32,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 32,859 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,596,000 after acquiring an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $430,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $305,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 14.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 33,707 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,741,000 after acquiring an additional 4,140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 1.6 %

AYI opened at $254.41 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.47. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.30 and a 12 month high of $272.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $257.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $222.05.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 21.22%. The business had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $897.01 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were issued 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 is currently 5.02%.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.25.

Acuity Brands 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.