Duality Advisers LP Has $222,000 Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Duality Advisers LP reduced its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 74.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,083 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 3,212 shares during the quarter. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $222,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 224,289 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $45,941,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of 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. Pathstone Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 12.7% in the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 6,936 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at about $414,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 6.0% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 285,055 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $48,548,000 after purchasing an additional 16,042 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of AYI opened at $252.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.30 and a 12 month high of $272.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $257.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $219.29.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.23. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 21.22%. The firm had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.01 million. Equities analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AYI. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of Acuity Brands 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of Acuity Brands 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $248.91 per share, with a total value of $49,782.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,782. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.