Earnest Partners LLC Increases Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Acuity, Inc. by 4.9%, owning approximately 0.85% of the company valued at $69.2 million after purchasing additional shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have boosted their price targets for Acuity, with Wells Fargo increasing its target from $285 to $320 and Morgan Stanley adjusting it from $335 to $365, reflecting growing confidence in the company's performance.
• Acuity recently reported earnings of $5.12 per share, surpassing expectations and showing a 21.7% year-over-year revenue increase, highlighting the company's strong financial position.

Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 262,601 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 12,279 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned 0.85% of Acuity worth $69,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in Acuity by 525.0% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Acuity by 45.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. raised its holdings in Acuity by 31.7% during the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 320 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of Acuity 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,115.40. The trade was 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.60.

Acuity Price Performance

NYSE:AYI traded down $3.57 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $325.86. 231,479 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 241,301. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.81 and a 1-year high of $345.30. The company has a market capitalization of $9.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $307.58 and a 200 day moving average of $279.96.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%.The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. Acuity's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.36%.

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.