Acuity, Inc. $AYI Stock Position Trimmed by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC decreased its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,950 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 21,713 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $8,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 4.6% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Acuity by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 25,584 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after acquiring an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Acuity during the 3rd quarter valued at $207,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in Acuity by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 4,765 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 25.1% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,993 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $313.20 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $350.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $340.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.50.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. Acuity had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Acuity in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.17.

Acuity Company Profile

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.