Wellington Management Group LLP Reduces Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP has reduced its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 14.2%, now holding approximately 3.10% of the company, valued at $252 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Northern Trust Corp and Versor Investments LP, have recently adjusted their holdings in Acuity, reflecting a complex dynamic among major stakeholders.
• Acuity Brands reported impressive quarterly earnings of $5.12 EPS, surpassing estimates, and disclosed a $0.17 quarterly dividend with a 0.2% yield.

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 14.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 958,289 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 159,200 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 3.10% of Acuity worth $252,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Acuity by 45.3% in the first 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 period. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total value of $1,806,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. This trade represents a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total value of $1,230,487.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at $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 owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock traded up $12.6310 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $326.9210. The company 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $301.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.07. Acuity, Inc. has a 52-week low of $216.81 and a 52-week 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 the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.15 earnings per share. 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 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 was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity's 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.