Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 174 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Posted by on Feb 24th, 2023

Brown Advisory Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI – Get Rating) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,631 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 174 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AYI. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 6.2% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 20,688 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 12,834 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,429,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,982,396 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $564,568,000 after acquiring an additional 25,598 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,395,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 9.1% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 19,747 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,647 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $193.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.71 and a twelve month high of $198.85. The company’s 50 day moving average is $179.17 and its 200 day moving average is $176.57. The company has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.61.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 9th. The electronics maker reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $997.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $984.46 million. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 21.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.85 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 12.4 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 6th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.74%.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,238 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.51, for a total transaction of $739,573.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,941,540.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,238 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.51, for a total transaction of $739,573.38. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,941,540.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 2,211 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.31, for a total transaction of $385,399.41. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,009,429.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AYI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $188.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Acuity Brands from $170.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Acuity Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Friday, December 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.00.

Acuity Brands Profile

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Acuity Brands, Inc operates as an industrial technology company, which engages in the provision of lighting and building management solutions and services. It operates through the Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls and Intelligent Spaces Group segments. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI)

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