Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Buys 7,973 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 9.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,784 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,973 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.32% of Acuity worth $33,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in Acuity by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 152 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Illumine Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Illumine Investment Management LLC now owns 2,872 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Acuity by 0.6% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,577 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 1.8% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Acuity by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $321.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.50. Acuity, Inc. has a 52-week low of $216.81 and a 52-week high of $380.17. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $343.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $342.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.07.

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

Acuity Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

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.