Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Has $26.29 Million Position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 16.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 99,827 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,218 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Acuity worth $26,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Acuity by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 45.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 520.0% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 248 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AYI. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $340.60.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total transaction of $1,806,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Acuity Price Performance

AYI stock opened at $294.40 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Acuity, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $345.30. The firm has a market cap of $9.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $276.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.91.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.36%.

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.