Bessemer Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 56.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 108 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 140 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $28,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Acuity by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Acuity by 45.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter worth approximately $79,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AYI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $340.60.

Acuity Trading Down 0.3%

AYI opened at $305.17 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $345.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $282.20. The firm has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Acuity’s payout ratio is currently 5.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total value of $1,230,487.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total value of $1,806,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.