Duality Advisers LP Has $222,000 Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Duality Advisers LP lessened its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 74.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,083 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 3,212 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Sound Shore Management Inc CT bought a new position in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $61,001,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 41.5% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 844,969 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $143,907,000 after acquiring an additional 247,774 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised 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 acquiring an additional 187,128 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at $17,321,000. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:AYI opened at $252.08 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 stock has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $257.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.29. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.30 and a 12 month high of $272.74.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.01 million. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 21.22%. Analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of Acuity Brands 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 completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $248.91 per share, with a total value 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at $5,320,062.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of 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 raised their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.