Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,000 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,406 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Acuity worth $23,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 50,220.2% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $676,764,000 after buying an additional 2,263,925 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at $119,587,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth $115,595,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 64.0% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 574,975 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $171,580,000 after purchasing an additional 224,469 shares during the period. Finally, Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,249,899 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $372,895,000 after purchasing an additional 151,414 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AYI. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 price target on Acuity in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total transaction of $1,538,110.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at $6,655,557.29. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Up 4.1%

AYI stock opened at $328.99 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $345.41 and a 200 day moving average of $342.40. The firm has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a PE ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.50. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 9.04%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.15%.

About Acuity

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.