American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 24,225 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its ownership in Acuity, Inc. by 3.0%, acquiring an additional 24,225 shares, bringing its total holdings to 832,491 shares valued at approximately $219.2 million.
• Acuity reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $5.12, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.44, with revenues rising 21.7% year-over-year.
• The company announced a dividend of $0.17 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.2% and a payout ratio of 5.36%.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 832,491 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 24,225 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.69% of Acuity worth $219,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,935 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 3.2% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 790 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 1.8% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,188 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 15.0% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 429 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Up 1.8%

AYI traded up $5.68 on Monday, reaching $319.49. 284,992 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 297,862. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $298.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.81. Acuity, Inc. has a 52-week low of $216.81 and a 52-week high of $345.30. The company has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

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

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. 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 report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, 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 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Acuity currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,980,115.40. The trade was a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. 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.