Short Interest in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Increases By 7.9%

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, an increase of 7.9% from the May 31st total of 1,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 263,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.2 days. Currently, 5.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Acuity Brands Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE AYI opened at $243.46 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $253.88 and a 200-day moving average of $245.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.42. Acuity Brands has a 52 week low of $155.34 and a 52 week high of $272.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.77.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The electronics maker reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.33. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 10.12%. The company had revenue of $968.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $996.52 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Acuity Brands will post 14.16 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 18th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.88%.

Insider Activity at Acuity Brands

In other news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,782. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Acuity Brands during the first quarter worth about $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 5,666.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 85.7% during 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. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AYI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Acuity Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $295.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Acuity Brands from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.00.

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.