Bailard Inc. Sells 201 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Bailard Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,216 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 201 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 1,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Acuity during the second quarter worth $32,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 525.0% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 3,175.0% in the 2nd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI stock opened at $350.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $352.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $312.24. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $375.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.73 billion, a PE ratio of 27.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.62.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.84 by $0.36. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 9.13%.The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Acuity has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.000-20.500 EPS. Analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AYI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Zacks Research raised Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Acuity from $380.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $395.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,489 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.11, for a total value of $1,638,978.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,211,106.16. This trade represents a 42.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Acuity Company 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.