783 Shares in Acuity, Inc. $AYI Purchased by Applied Finance Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired 783 shares of Acuity, Inc. valued at approximately $234,000 in the second quarter, highlighting ongoing interest from institutional investors.
• Acuity's stock has received multiple upgrades from analysts, with Oppenheimer increasing its price target from $380.00 to $435.00 and Zacks Research upgrading it to a strong-buy rating.
• The company recently declared a $0.17 quarterly dividend, set to be paid on November 3rd, indicating a stable dividend policy with a low payout ratio of 5.43%.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 783 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AYI. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in Acuity by 525.0% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 1,789.5% in 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 during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 328 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AYI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.17.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $357.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $338.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.73. The firm has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $375.67.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.43%.

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.

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