iSAM Funds UK Ltd Takes Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,764 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,316,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Acuity by 1,100.0% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity by 3,175.0% during the 2nd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Acuity by 372.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 208 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AYI. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Acuity from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Acuity currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.17.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI opened at $371.90 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $359.81 and its 200-day moving average is $324.30. The stock has a market cap of $11.38 billion, a PE ratio of 29.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $379.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.84 by $0.36. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Acuity has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.000-20.500 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,489 shares of Acuity 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 directly owned 6,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,211,106.16. The trade was a 42.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.