Matrix Trust Co Purchases 254 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Matrix Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 479.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 307 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $90,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,849,000. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 42.0% during the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 6,477 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 1,917 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at about $484,000. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 15.0% during the third quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 21,285 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,862,000 after buying an additional 2,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $813,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:AYI opened at $306.27 on Tuesday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.64 and a 12 month high of $337.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $315.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $281.62. The stock has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The business had revenue of $951.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $955.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.72 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Acuity Brands

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Acuity Brands in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $304.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $320.00 to $336.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $328.20.

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.