Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lessened its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 50.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,940 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 3,999 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aurora Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 5,938 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. SouthState Corp raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 1,854 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 402 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 20,973 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,572,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total value of $2,031,048.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,320,062.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Acuity Brands stock opened at $253.15 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $218.56. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.30 and a 1-year high of $272.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $7.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.49.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.