39,591 Shares in Acuity, Inc. $AYI Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 39,591 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $14,912,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI stock opened at $335.44 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $342.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $308.37. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $257.04 and a 52 week high of $380.17. The stock has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.05.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.12 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Five 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.com, Acuity has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.17.

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.