Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Sold by Capital Fund Management S.A.

Key Points

• Capital Fund Management S.A. reduced its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 13.5%, selling 2,824 shares during the first quarter, resulting in ownership of 18,041 shares valued at approximately $4.75 million.
• Insider sales included CFO Karen J. Holcom's sale of 6,000 shares for over $1.8 million, marking a 24.3% decrease in her ownership.
• Acuity's earnings per share for the last quarter exceeded expectations at $5.12, compared to analysts' estimates of $4.44, along with a quarterly revenue increase of 21.7% year-over-year.

Capital Fund Management S.A. reduced its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,041 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 2,824 shares during the quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. owned about 0.06% of Acuity worth $4,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 525.0% in the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 31.7% in the 1st quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 320 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Price Performance

Acuity stock traded up $2.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $335.10. The company had a trading volume of 143,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 338,496. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $304.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.11. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.81 and a 1-year high of $345.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.99.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is currently 5.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AYI. 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 research report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.