First Trust Advisors LP Increases Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 32.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 378,006 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 92,094 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Acuity were worth $105,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Acuity by 8,338.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Acuity by 17.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $20,158,000 after purchasing an additional 11,144 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 372.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 208 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $762,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AYI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.17.

Acuity Trading Up 1.0%

AYI stock opened at $330.36 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $318.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $304.56. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $257.04 and a 52 week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.44 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s payout ratio is presently 5.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In other Acuity news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $288.83 per share, with a total value of $57,766.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,532. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

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.