KBC Group NV Has $2.12 Million Stock Holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

KBC Group NV cut its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 61.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,061 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 12,840 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Acuity were worth $2,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Acuity by 1,470.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 314 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Acuity by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,625 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $11,284,000 after acquiring an additional 11,583 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at about $10,412,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Acuity by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,929 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,608,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at about $13,394,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $1,230,487.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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. 2.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Acuity Price Performance

NYSE AYI traded down $0.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $305.17. 167,949 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 307,508. The company has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.99. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.81 and a 1-year high of $345.30. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $270.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $282.08.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for 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%. Acuity's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.15 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Acuity's payout ratio is currently 5.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AYI. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.