105,336 Shares in Acuity, Inc. $AYI Purchased by Nuveen LLC

Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 105,336 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $27,740,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.34% of Acuity as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AYI. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $207,000. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 52.0% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,111 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Acuity by 72.7% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 44,900 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $13,117,000 after acquiring an additional 18,900 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its position in Acuity by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 790 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in Acuity by 326.0% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,143 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Down 1.9%

Acuity stock opened at $313.58 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a PE ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $345.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%. The business's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity's payout ratio is 5.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total value of $1,806,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total value of $1,230,487.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,115.40. This represents a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Acuity Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.