Benjamin Edwards Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lessened its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,047 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 97 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.8% during the third quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 5,938 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Acuity Brands by 3.1% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 1,854 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 467 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

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

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI traded up $3.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $254.41. 203,664 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 232,739. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.47. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $149.30 and a one year high of $272.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $257.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.24.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly 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. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 9.81%. The business had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $897.01 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were given 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 was Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is 5.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AYI. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.