Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 87.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,944 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 62,800 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $2,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 951 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 1,896 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $554,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.2% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 790 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $267.79 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $345.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $254.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $284.59.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AYI. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.60.

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.