Do Hedge Funds Love Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI)?

Now, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, created the biggest position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI). Millennium Management had $14.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. George Hall’s Clinton Group also initiated a $5.6 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AYI investors: D E Shaw, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI). We will take a look at E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC), Oneok Partners LP (NYSE:OKS), Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (ADR) (NYSE:TKC), and Oaktree Capital Group LLC (NYSE:OAK). This group of stocks’ market caps is similar to Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 21 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $308 million. That figure was $292 million in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)’s case. E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (ADR) (NYSE:TKC) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.