Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Has $839,000 Stock Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Aurora Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 1,854 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 467 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 0.5 %

Acuity Brands stock 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $256.78 and a 200-day moving average of $218.79. The company has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.49. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $149.30 and a one year high of $272.74.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AYI shares. 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 raised their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.