Strs Ohio Makes New Investment in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired a stake in Acuity, Inc. by purchasing 6,108 shares valued at approximately $1.61 million in the first quarter, according to its latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have recently upgraded Acuity's stock, with Wells Fargo raising the target price from $320 to $380 and others providing a consensus target price of $352.60.
• Acuity reported an earnings beating with $5.12 EPS and $1.18 billion in revenue for the recent quarter, showing a 21.7% year-over-year increase in revenue.

Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,108 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,609,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 525.0% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Acuity by 45.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. raised its stake in Acuity by 31.7% during the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 320 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 1,789.5% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 359 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of AYI traded down $8.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $336.31. 621,545 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 215,702. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $348.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.65. The company's 50 day moving average is $318.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $283.15.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%.The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $352.60.

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.