Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Bought by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 87.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 213,801 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 100,036 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.71% of Acuity worth $59,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 617 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Acuity by 1.6% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its stake in Acuity by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 6,805 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,338 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AYI. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a report on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.17.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $336.05 on Tuesday. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.04 and a 1-year high of $380.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $319.55 and its 200-day moving average is $303.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.27.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $288.83 per share, with a total value of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $115,532. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.