KBC Group NV Sells 12,840 Shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

KBC Group NV lowered its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 61.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,061 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 12,840 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Acuity were worth $2,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Acuity by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Acuity by 520.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 248 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction 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 represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was 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 $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Acuity Price Performance

NYSE:AYI traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $306.38. The company had a trading volume of 319,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 307,556. Acuity, Inc. has a 52-week low of $216.81 and a 52-week high of $345.30. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $271.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.96. The company has a market capitalization of $9.39 billion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. Acuity's payout ratio is 5.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.60.

Acuity 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.