Versor Investments LP Boosts Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Versor Investments LP increased its position in Acuity, Inc. by 60.2% in Q1, holding 2,600 shares valued at $685,000 at the end of the quarter.
• Acuity's recent quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting $5.12 EPS against a consensus of $4.44, and a 21.7% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 0.2% and a payout ratio of 5.36%.

Versor Investments LP boosted its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 60.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,600 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP's holdings in Acuity were worth $685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Acuity by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,118,613 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $821,287,000 after buying an additional 14,071 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Acuity by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,120,979 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $327,471,000 after purchasing an additional 8,705 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in Acuity by 158.9% during the fourth quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,088,477 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $317,977,000 after buying an additional 668,048 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 3.0% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 832,491 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $219,237,000 after buying an additional 24,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 455,427 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $133,044,000 after acquiring an additional 82,947 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total value 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. The trade was a 38.33% decrease in their position. The sale 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI stock traded up $12.6310 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $326.9210. The company's stock had a trading volume of 144,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,052. The stock has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.76, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.64. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $301.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $280.07. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.36%.

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.