Cerity Partners LLC Sells 2,920 Shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 40.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,329 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 2,920 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Acuity were worth $1,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Acuity by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Acuity during the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Acuity by 520.0% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 248 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Acuity by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target 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 raised shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Acuity has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.60.

Acuity Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE AYI traded up $1.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $298.81. The company had a trading volume of 67,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 349,094. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year high of $345.30. The company has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.62. The company's fifty day moving average is $281.61 and its 200-day moving average is $281.88.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. Acuity's payout ratio is 5.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.