Empowered Funds LLC Acquires Shares of 3,582 Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYIFree Report) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,582 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total transaction of $659,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,750,880.14. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Acuity Price Performance

Acuity stock opened at $334.12 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.04 and a 12-month high of $380.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $342.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $308.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Acuity (NYSE:AYIGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AYI. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 target price on shares of Acuity in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned 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 $397.17.

View Our Latest Stock Report on AYI

About Acuity

(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

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Acuity (NYSE:AYI)

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