Quantbot Technologies LP Buys New Shares in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,652 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,752,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Acuity in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AYI. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen cut Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.17.

Acuity Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of AYI opened at $336.96 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $340.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.91. The stock has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.30. Acuity, Inc. has a 12 month low of $257.04 and a 12 month high of $380.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was 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.