Short Interest in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Drops By 12.5%

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 659,100 shares, a decline of 12.5% from the November 15th total of 753,500 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 270,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

AYI stock traded down $5.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $312.85. The company had a trading volume of 224,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,866. The company has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $315.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.16. 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 has a 12-month low of $199.47 and a 12-month high of $337.99.

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

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is 4.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AYI. StockNews.com downgraded Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $324.00.

Insider Activity

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 0.3% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,498 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,717,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,811 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 427 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Acuity Brands by 16.6% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 352 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 2.8% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,541 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

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.