Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Sold by SouthState Corp

SouthState Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,794 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted 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 acquiring an additional 4,694 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 buying an additional 161,818 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 12.7% during the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 6,936 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $414,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 285,055 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $48,548,000 after acquiring an additional 16,042 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 1.6 %

Acuity Brands stock traded up $3.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $254.41. 203,664 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 232,739. The company’s 50-day moving average is $257.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.59. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.30 and a 52-week high of $272.74. The firm has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,320,062.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $49,782. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at $5,320,062.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.