Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 13,530 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,540 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 13,530 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.52% of Acuity Brands worth $33,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,365,821 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $573,233,000 after acquiring an additional 17,459 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,149,459 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $235,444,000 after purchasing an additional 45,666 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $143,907,000 after buying an additional 247,774 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 820,077 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $139,667,000 after buying an additional 89,192 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 625,077 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $128,035,000 after buying an additional 36,488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 2.6 %

Acuity Brands stock opened at $259.02 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.72 and a 1-year high of $272.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.34. The company has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Acuity Brands news, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought 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 approximately $49,782. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at $5,320,062.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AYI shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.