Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,847 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aurora Investment Counsel grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 5,938 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.3% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 1,854 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 20.0% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 402 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 0.4% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 20,973 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,572,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

AYI stock opened at $249.54 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $255.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.80. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.30 and a 12-month high of $272.74. The company has a market capitalization of $7.69 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is 5.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.25.

Insider Activity at Acuity Brands

In other Acuity Brands news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at $5,320,062.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.