Vision One Management Partners LP Sells 45,123 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Vision One Management Partners LP decreased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 97.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,353 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 45,123 shares during the quarter. Acuity Brands makes up about 0.2% of Vision One Management Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Vision One Management Partners LP’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. WBI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $616,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. State of Wyoming grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 159.6% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,046 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Strategic Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC now owns 7,888 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 28,260 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $8,256,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of AYI opened at $273.23 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $251.74 and its 200-day moving average is $292.99. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $345.30.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The company’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.38 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is presently 5.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.60.

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.