US Bancorp DE Lowers Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

US Bancorp DE cut its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 3.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,085 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 103 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Acuity were worth $920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AYI. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 525.0% in the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 320 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 1,789.5% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 359 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Acuity by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 328 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $357.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.64. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $338.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.54. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $375.67.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Zacks Research raised Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.17.

About Acuity

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.