Hedge Funds Are Betting On Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI)

In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of metrics investors can use to track publicly traded companies. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can outpace the market by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of stimuli for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if investors know what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to discuss the latest info for Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI).

Hedge fund activity in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Heading into Q3, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 12% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.

According to our 13F database, Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, holds the biggest position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI). Columbus Circle Investors has a $33.8 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by PAR Capital Management, managed by Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro, which held a $28.8 million position; the fund has 0.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Bruce Kovner’s Caxton Associates LP and John Brennan’s Sirios Capital Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the titans, certain money managers have been driving this bullishness. Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, initiated the largest position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI). Columbus Circle Investors had 33.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro’s PAR Capital Management also made a $28.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Bruce Kovner’s Caxton Associates LP, and John Brennan’s Sirios Capital Management.

How are insiders trading Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)?

Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI). These stocks are LG Display Co Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:LPL), Sanmina Corp (NASDAQ:SANM), Molex Incorporated (NASDAQ:MOLX), AVX Corporation (NYSE:AVX), and Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB). This group of stocks belong to the diversified electronics industry and their market caps resemble AYI’s market cap.