Alberta Investment Management Corp Grows Stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its ownership in Acuity, Inc. by 54.3%, acquiring an additional 2,500 shares, raising its total to 7,100 shares worth $1.87 million during the first quarter.
• Acuity, Inc. reported **strong quarterly earnings**, with $5.12 earnings per share that exceeded expectations, along with revenue growth of 21.7% compared to the previous year.
• Several **institutional investors**, including US Bancorp and Federated Hermes Inc., also boosted their stakes in Acuity, indicating substantial confidence in the company, which now has 98.21% institutional ownership.

Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 54.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,100 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Acuity were worth $1,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity by 525.0% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew 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 last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake 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% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 248 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of 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 raised Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Three research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.60.

Acuity Stock Performance

Acuity stock traded down $2.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $305.52. 95,181 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 348,556. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $288.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year high of $345.30.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 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 firm's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity's payout ratio is 5.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the company'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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,980,115.40. This represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. The trade was 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.

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.