American Century Companies Inc. Sells 80,026 Shares of LSI Industries Inc. $LYTS

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holding in LSI Industries Inc. by 31.6%, selling 80,026 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with approximately 173,494 shares valued at around $2.95 million.
• LSI Industries recently reported earnings of $0.26 per share, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share, set to be paid on September 10th.
• Analysts have upgraded LSI Industries' stock ratings, with a consensus price target of $27.67 and some analysts projecting a strong-buy recommendation.

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in LSI Industries Inc. (NASDAQ:LYTS - Free Report) by 31.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 173,494 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 80,026 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.58% of LSI Industries worth $2,949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of LSI Industries by 2.1% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 41,378 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $703,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of LSI Industries by 4,116.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,625 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 10,373 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LSI Industries by 3.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,624,265 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $27,613,000 after purchasing an additional 47,341 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of LSI Industries by 86.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 70,356 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 32,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of LSI Industries by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 16,254 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,476 shares during the last quarter. 73.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LYTS has been the topic of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of LSI Industries from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of LSI Industries from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 24th. Finally, Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of LSI Industries in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $27.67.

LSI Industries Price Performance

LYTS traded up $0.45 on Thursday, hitting $23.21. 53,366 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 145,982. LSI Industries Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.77 and a 12 month high of $25.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $694.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 0.27.

LSI Industries (NASDAQ:LYTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.09. LSI Industries had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $155.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $138.89 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that LSI Industries Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LSI Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. LSI Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Anthony Clark sold 26,597 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.08, for a total value of $613,858.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 421,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,723,904.04. This represents a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas A. Caneris sold 7,544 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.08, for a total transaction of $174,115.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 114,016 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,631,489.28. This trade represents a 6.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,205 shares of company stock valued at $927,931 over the last quarter. 8.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About LSI Industries

LSI Industries Inc produces and sells non-residential lighting and retail display solutions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Latin America. It operates through two segments, Lighting and Display Solutions. The Lighting segment manufactures, markets, and sells non-residential outdoor and indoor lighting fixture and control solutions in the commercial and industrial markets.