Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Cuts Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 24.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,822 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 2,228 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Acuity were worth $1,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 863 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Acuity by 3.0% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,592 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Acuity by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 60,500 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $17,674,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Acuity by 27.5% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,886,000 after buying an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,187 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the business'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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of AYI stock traded down $4.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $298.43. The company had a trading volume of 200,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 308,104. Acuity, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $345.30. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $282.26. The company has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.62.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The business 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.60.

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.