JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 128,731 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 711,777 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 128,731 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $245,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AYI. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in Acuity in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 1,100.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity in the third quarter worth $33,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Acuity by 122.2% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Acuity during the second quarter valued at $36,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE:AYI opened at $311.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $335.69 and a 200 day moving average of $342.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.81 and a 1-year high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.17.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total value of $1,538,110.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Company 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.