Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,205 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,141 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $3,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,855 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 57.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 14,857 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,587,000 after acquiring an additional 5,435 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.9% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 6,429 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 3.5% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 36,377 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $8,783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of Acuity Brands stock opened at $317.74 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $315.34 and its 200 day moving average is $273.73. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $196.38 and a one year high of $337.99.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

About Acuity Brands

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.