1,230 Shares in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Bought by Penserra Capital Management LLC

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

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Acuity during the first quarter worth $250,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in Acuity during the first quarter worth $290,000. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. raised its position in Acuity by 63.2% during the first quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 16,413 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $4,330,000 after acquiring an additional 6,359 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in shares of Acuity by 3.5% in the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 3,658 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 0.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 70,553 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $18,580,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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

Acuity Stock Down 2.1%

AYI traded down $6.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $288.87. 128,105 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 307,785. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $276.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.91. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. The firm 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.60.

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.