Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Stock Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,802 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 141 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $3,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Seizert Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 281,308 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $77,469,000 after acquiring an additional 5,435 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,669 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the period. Sycomore Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 7,669 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,069,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,973 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,746,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 0.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,379 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,409,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Acuity Brands

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This trade represents a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 insiders.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Acuity Brands stock opened at $329.79 on Tuesday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $176.93 and a twelve month high of $337.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $303.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $267.75. The firm has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.40.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.74 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Company Profile

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.