Interval Partners LP Makes New $21.65 Million Investment in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Interval Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 62,868 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $21,651,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Acuity during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Acuity by 122.2% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Acuity in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Acuity by 5,200.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 106 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $260.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.50. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $380.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $310.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $339.33. 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 (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. Acuity’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.97 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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 stock was sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total value of $1,538,110.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,655,557.29. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AYI. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 target price on Acuity in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $389.33.

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.