Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Short Interest Update

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,009,472 shares, a growth of 49.3% from the January 29th total of 676,079 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 377,162 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 377,162 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Acuity by 50,220.2% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $676,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263,925 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Acuity by 6,496.7% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 692,189 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $249,216,000 after buying an additional 681,696 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Acuity during the second quarter worth about $119,587,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Acuity during the second quarter worth about $115,595,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity by 98.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 571,017 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $196,653,000 after acquiring an additional 283,203 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.17.

Acuity Price Performance

NYSE AYI traded down $5.87 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $295.72. The stock had a trading volume of 601,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 376,704. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $327.71 and its 200 day moving average is $342.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.50. Acuity has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Acuity 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. Shareholders 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 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 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.