UMB Bank n.a. Acquires 78 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 31.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 328 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $98,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity in the 1st quarter valued at $250,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 1st quarter valued at $379,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,533 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,514,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 542,715 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $142,907,000 after purchasing an additional 60,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 863 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total value of $1,806,240.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total value of $1,230,487.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $340.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.81 and a 1-year high of $349.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $321.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $284.39.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. Acuity’s revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Acuity from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $352.60.

Acuity Profile

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.