Allianz SE Acquires New Shares in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,410 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $830,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 8,338.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Acuity by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $20,158,000 after purchasing an additional 11,144 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Acuity by 1,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its position in shares of Acuity by 9.1% during the second quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 6,665 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,988,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity by 51.7% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $953,000 after buying an additional 1,088 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Acuity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 target price on shares of Acuity in a research note on Friday, January 9th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.17.

Acuity Price Performance

AYI 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 stock 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $329.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $342.68. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $380.17.

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

Acuity Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Acuity’s payout ratio is 6.15%.

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.