Acuity, Inc. $AYI Stake Cut by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,892 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 13,744 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $6,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 50,220.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $676,764,000 after buying an additional 2,263,925 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP raised its stake in Acuity by 13.8% during the second quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,249,899 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $372,895,000 after acquiring an additional 151,414 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Acuity by 6.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 840,508 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $250,759,000 after acquiring an additional 50,491 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Acuity by 64.0% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 574,975 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $171,580,000 after acquiring an additional 224,469 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Acuity in the second quarter valued at approximately $119,587,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total value of $1,538,110.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Zacks Research downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Monday, December 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.17.

Acuity Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $301.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.81 and a 1-year high of $380.17. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $329.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $342.54. The company has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.50.

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

Acuity Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is 6.15%.

Acuity 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.