Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,118,613 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 14,071 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of Acuity worth $821,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Acuity in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Acuity in the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Acuity by 520.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 248 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Acuity by 45.3% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company 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 report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $340.60.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $323.18 on Wednesday. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $345.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total value of $1,806,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,696 shares of the company’s stock, 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 corporate insiders.

Acuity Company 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.