Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Raises Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 435 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% in the 4th 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. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 85.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 402 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 508.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 341 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 61.3% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:AYI opened at $251.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.30 and a 1-year high of $272.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $256.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $218.79. The stock has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.49.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be given 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 payout ratio is 5.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,320,062.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AYI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.25.

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.