Strategic Global Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Strategic Global Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYIFree Report) by 45.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,485 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 3,690 shares during the period. Strategic Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $1,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its stake in Acuity by 0.5% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 6,269 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Acuity by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 617 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Acuity by 1.8% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Acuity by 1.6% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in Acuity by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 6,805 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Price Performance

AYI stock opened at $296.89 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.31. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.04 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $311.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Acuity (NYSE:AYIGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 2nd. The electronics maker reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 9.37%.The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.06 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $288.83 per share, with a total value of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,532. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura O’shaughnessy acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $282.98 per share, with a total value of $282,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,350.78. This trade represents a 47.37% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Acuity from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Acuity from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Acuity from $342.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.17.

View Our Latest Analysis on AYI

Acuity Profile

(Free Report)

Acuity Brands, Inc (NYSE: AYI) is a leading provider of lighting fixtures, controls and building management solutions designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential markets. The company’s core offerings include a broad range of LED luminaires, lighting controls, sensors and networked building systems that enhance energy efficiency, occupant comfort and operational productivity. Acuity Brands’ portfolio spans indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, emergency lighting, task lighting and architectural products, as well as advanced controls such as daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing and wireless sensor networks.

Beyond traditional lighting, Acuity Brands delivers integrated digital solutions through its Connected Building platform, which combines smart sensors, cloud-based analytics and mobile applications to enable real-time monitoring and remote management of lighting and environmental systems.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AYI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYIFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Acuity (NYSE:AYI)

Receive News & Ratings for Acuity Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Acuity and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.