Ieq Capital LLC Has $1.96 Million Stake in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC reduced its holdings in Acuity, Inc. by 45.7%, resulting in ownership of 7,426 shares valued at approximately $1.96 million.
• Several large investors, including Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD and Algert Global LLC, have significantly increased their positions in Acuity during the fourth quarter, with institutional investors now owning 98.21% of the stock.
• Acuity reported earnings of $5.12 EPS for the quarter, exceeding expectations and demonstrating a 21.7% year-over-year increase in revenue.

Ieq Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 45.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,426 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 6,260 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in Acuity were worth $1,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in Acuity by 525.0% during the 1st 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. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Acuity by 45.3% during the 1st 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 purchased a new stake in Acuity during the 4th quarter worth $79,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its position in Acuity by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 320 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $380.00 in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $352.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at $5,628,243.84. The trade was 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.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI traded down $0.75 on Friday, hitting $338.65. 148,243 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 214,372. The firm has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.65. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $345.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $311.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. 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 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.