Penserra Capital Management LLC Invests $323,000 in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,230 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 45.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 520.0% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 248 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This represents a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total transaction of $1,806,240.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Acuity Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of AYI traded down $4.26 on Friday, hitting $298.43. 200,151 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 308,465. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.62. The stock's 50 day moving average is $275.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $282.23. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $345.30.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.36%.

About Acuity

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.