KBC Group NV Decreases Stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

KBC Group NV reduced its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 61.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Acuity by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 45.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of AYI traded down $0.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $305.17. 167,949 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 307,508. 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 fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30. The business's 50 day moving average is $270.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.62.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.15 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 5.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research 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. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their position. The sale 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 firm'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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

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.