Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 815,050 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,011 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 2.66% of Acuity worth $280,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AYI. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in Acuity in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Acuity by 1,100.0% during the second 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. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the third quarter worth $33,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity by 122.2% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 5,200.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 106 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Down 2.0%

AYI stock opened at $301.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $329.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $342.68. The company has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.50. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $380.17.

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

Acuity Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. Acuity’s payout ratio is 6.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AYI shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Acuity currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Acuity Profile

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.