Raymond James Financial Inc. Has $13.54 Million Stock Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 12.1%, now owning 51,415 shares valued at approximately $13.54 million.
• Recent upgrades from analysts include a price objective increase from $335.00 to $365.00 by Morgan Stanley, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $340.60.
• Acuity reported strong quarterly earnings of $5.12 EPS, exceeding estimates and showing a 21.7% increase in revenue compared to the prior year.

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 12.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,415 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Acuity worth $13,540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 14,071 shares in the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 158.9% in the 4th quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,088,477 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $317,977,000 after acquiring an additional 668,048 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Acuity by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 832,491 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $219,237,000 after purchasing an additional 24,225 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Acuity by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 384,504 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $112,325,000 after purchasing an additional 12,492 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Acuity by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 345,618 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $100,965,000 after purchasing an additional 34,562 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,980,115.40. The trade was a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the firm's 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 approximately $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI traded up $1.42 on Thursday, hitting $333.79. 11,016 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 334,482. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $310.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.65. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. Acuity's payout ratio is 5.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.