Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Stock Holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Acuity, Inc. shares by 22.3% in the 1st quarter, owning a total of 9,236 shares valued at $2,432,000.
• Acuity reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $5.12, beating analysts' expectations of $4.44 and showing a revenue increase of 21.7% year-over-year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.2%, with a dividend payout ratio of 5.36%.

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 22.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,236 shares of the electronics maker's stock after buying an additional 1,686 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Acuity were worth $2,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Acuity by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,120,979 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $327,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,705 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP increased its position in shares of Acuity by 158.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 668,048 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 603,446 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $176,285,000 after purchasing an additional 61,765 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 455,427 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $133,044,000 after buying an additional 82,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 436,060 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $127,386,000 after buying an additional 9,513 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This represents 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 brokerages have commented on AYI. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective 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 raised their target price on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.60.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of AYI stock traded up $2.17 on Friday, hitting $307.00. 157,384 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 348,040. 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 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $345.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.07. The firm has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.19, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.64.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.15 EPS. Acuity's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

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