Acadian Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 12.6%, owning 542,715 shares valued at $142.9 million after purchasing an additional 60,784 shares in the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds, including GAMMA Investing LLC and UBS AM, have significantly increased their holdings in Acuity, indicating a growing institutional interest with approximately 98.21% of the stock controlled by institutional investors.
• Acuity Brands recently reported earnings of $5.12 per share, exceeding estimates, while stock analysts have raised price targets for Acuity, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $352.60.

Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 12.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 542,715 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 60,784 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 1.76% of Acuity worth $142,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Acuity by 2.4% in the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,935 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 15,389 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $4,053,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,188 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 15.0% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 429 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI traded down $2.87 during trading on Friday, reaching $336.57. 303,947 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 215,561. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30. 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 cap of $10.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $314.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.50.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AYI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $320.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Acuity has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $352.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% 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 Company 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.