Guardian Wealth Management Inc. Sells 175 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Guardian Wealth Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,554 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Acuity Brands comprises approximately 1.7% of Guardian Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Guardian Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $2,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Acuity Brands by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,610 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,371,000 after acquiring an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 213.4% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,040 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 3,432 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,026,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $279,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 24,186 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,595,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of Acuity Brands 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on AYI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $324.73 on Monday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $312.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $183.95 and a 12 month high of $337.99.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

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

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.