Short Interest in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Drops By 13.4%

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 753,500 shares, a decrease of 13.4% from the October 31st total of 870,300 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 259,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of AYI stock traded up $4.45 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $326.52. 156,011 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,085. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $308.42 and its 200-day moving average is $269.78. Acuity Brands has a fifty-two week low of $181.18 and a fifty-two week high of $337.99. The company has a market cap of $10.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,573,590. This represents a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Acuity Brands

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 517.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.00.

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.