8,800 Shares in Acuity, Inc. $AYI Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 8,800 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,466,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.17.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other news, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were acquired 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 approximately $115,532. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Laura O’shaughnessy purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $282.98 per share, for a total transaction of $282,980.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,350.78. This trade represents a 47.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $367.07 on Tuesday. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.04 and a 12-month high of $380.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a PE ratio of 24.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $299.67 and its 200-day moving average is $307.62.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.Acuity’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.12 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be issued 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 presently 5.31%.

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.