Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Acquired by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,191 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $4,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sound Shore Management Inc CT purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $61,001,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position 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 worth $143,907,000 after acquiring an additional 247,774 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 35.8% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 709,647 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $120,585,000 after acquiring an additional 187,128 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 17.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 161,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $17,321,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,320,062.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $49,782. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:AYI opened at $262.27 on Thursday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.30 and a 12-month 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.47.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $905.90 million for 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. 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 research note on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.