Lathrop Investment Management Corp Decreases Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Lathrop Investment Management Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,546 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 881 shares during the period. Acuity Brands accounts for about 3.0% of Lathrop Investment Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Lathrop Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $16,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 366.2% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 345,628 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $83,430,000 after buying an additional 271,485 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 187.8% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 330,331 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $79,755,000 after buying an additional 215,547 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 353.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 173,683 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $41,934,000 after buying an additional 135,350 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 35.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 407,164 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $98,306,000 after buying an additional 107,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Acuity Brands in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,188,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

AYI opened at $320.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.40. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.93 and a fifty-two week high of $337.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $300.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $266.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. Acuity Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at $2,573,590. This trade represents a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by 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.