Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 11.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,811 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 11,016 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.29% of Acuity worth $26,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 0.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 70,553 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $18,580,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in Acuity by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 3,658 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $963,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in Acuity in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Acuity in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Acuity in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.01, for a total value of $1,724,862.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,880,665.45. The trade was a 30.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Acuity Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $365.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $348.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $305.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $375.67. The company has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.64.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 17th. Acuity’s payout ratio is currently 5.43%.

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.