B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Purchases 3,127 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,463 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,127 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG owned about 0.06% of Acuity worth $6,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Acuity by 50,220.2% in 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. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 6.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 840,508 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $250,759,000 after purchasing an additional 50,491 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Acuity by 2.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 815,050 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $280,695,000 after purchasing an additional 17,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in Acuity by 64.0% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 574,975 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $171,580,000 after purchasing an additional 224,469 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Price Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $275.37 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $320.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $341.54. Acuity, Inc. has a 52-week low of $216.81 and a 52-week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The business’s revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 6.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AYI. Zacks Research lowered Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $389.33.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.