Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $800,000 in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,323 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $800,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Acuity by 50,220.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $676,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263,925 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at about $119,587,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at about $115,595,000. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Acuity by 64.0% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 574,975 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $171,580,000 after buying an additional 224,469 shares during the period. Finally, Durable Capital Partners LP grew its position in shares of Acuity by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,249,899 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $372,895,000 after buying an additional 151,414 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the firm’s 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 owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AYI shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 target price on shares of Acuity in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $389.33.

Acuity Stock Down 3.0%

Acuity stock opened at $257.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $312.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $339.78. 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 fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. 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. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.15%.

About Acuity

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.