Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Has $46.46 Million Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 45.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 155,726 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 127,463 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $46,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 16.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 99,827 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $26,290,000 after buying an additional 14,218 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Acuity during the first quarter valued at about $353,000. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Acuity by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 7,294 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Acuity by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,050 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,489 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.11, for a total transaction of $1,638,978.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,211,106.16. This represents a 42.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AYI. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Acuity from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $395.17.

Acuity Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE AYI opened at $359.26 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $351.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $310.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year high of $375.67. The firm has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.62.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is 5.43%.

Acuity 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.