Texas Permanent School Fund Trims Stock Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 8th, 2023

Texas Permanent School Fund reduced its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI – Get Rating) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,619 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,910 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund owned approximately 0.07% of Acuity Brands worth $3,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Acuity Brands by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 4,533 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,860 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,608,000 after buying an additional 4,065 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 69,241 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $11,467,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $1,019,000. Finally, Ellevest Inc. grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 267 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 93.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Acuity Brands news, Director Laura O’shaughnessy purchased 632 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $158.05 per share, with a total value of $99,887.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $333,643.55. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AYI. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $180.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $193.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $201.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Acuity Brands in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $192.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.88.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

AYI opened at $157.98 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.48. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.71 and a 52-week high of $202.90.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 4th. The electronics maker reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $943.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $959.99 million. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 22.20%. As a group, analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 17th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 14th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.56%.

About Acuity Brands

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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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