Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Sold by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. cut its Acuity stake by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,297 shares and ending with 133,677 shares valued at about $48.1 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive overall, with five Buy ratings and four Hold ratings; the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $369.17.
• Acuity recently beat quarterly EPS estimates with $4.14 per share, while revenue rose 4.9% year over year to $1.06 billion. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share and saw recent insider buying by two directors.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lowered its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 133,677 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 8,297 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.44% of Acuity worth $48,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 59.2% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 113 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AYI. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Acuity from $342.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Acuity from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Acuity from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $369.17.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $299.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock's fifty day moving average is $283.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.32. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.03 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 2nd. The electronics maker reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Acuity's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 17th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.87%.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In other news, Director Laura O'shaughnessy bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $282.98 per share, for a total transaction of $282,980.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 3,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $880,350.78. This represents a 47.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $288.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,766.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,532. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Acuity Company Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc NYSE: AYI is a leading provider of lighting fixtures, controls and building management solutions designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential markets. The company's core offerings include a broad range of LED luminaires, lighting controls, sensors and networked building systems that enhance energy efficiency, occupant comfort and operational productivity. Acuity Brands' portfolio spans indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, emergency lighting, task lighting and architectural products, as well as advanced controls such as daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing and wireless sensor networks.

Beyond traditional lighting, Acuity Brands delivers integrated digital solutions through its Connected Building platform, which combines smart sensors, cloud-based analytics and mobile applications to enable real-time monitoring and remote management of lighting and environmental systems.

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