Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 6,221 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 44.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,321 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Acuity worth $7,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity by 8,338.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Acuity by 17.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in Acuity by 3.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,721 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Acuity by 0.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 67,526 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $20,146,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 955 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Acuity from $375.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $380.17.

Acuity Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE AYI opened at $270.25 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $380.17. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $297.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $335.15. The stock has a market cap of $8.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.50.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm earned $3.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is 6.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.