NewEdge Wealth LLC Has $1.93 Million Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 50.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,880 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,296 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $1,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Acuity by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 378,006 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $105,925,000 after purchasing an additional 92,094 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,830 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 1,319.8% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,089 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after buying an additional 3,801 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 8.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 635,160 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $177,970,000 after buying an additional 47,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 1.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,338 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AYI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on Acuity in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.17.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In related news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $288.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,532. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Acuity Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $330.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $318.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $304.56. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.04 and a 1 year high of $380.17. The company has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.27.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.12 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.44 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.31%.

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.