Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Cuts Stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lessened its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,748 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,185 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $7,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 517.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands during the second quarter valued at $41,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Acuity Brands by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 352 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Acuity Brands

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AYI stock opened at $320.69 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $307.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $269.37. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $176.93 and a 1 year high of $337.99.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.74 earnings per share. Acuity Brands’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.46%.

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.