Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension Invests $22.57 Million in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension opened a new position in Acuity, buying 62,693 shares worth about $22.57 million in the fourth quarter.
• Wall Street sentiment on Acuity is mixed but constructive, with five Buy ratings and four Hold ratings; the consensus target price is $369.17, and the overall rating is Moderate Buy.
• Acuity reported quarterly EPS of $4.14, slightly above estimates, while revenue came in at $1.06 billion and rose 4.9% year over year; the company also paid a $0.20 quarterly dividend.

Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 62,693 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $22,572,000. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension owned 0.20% of Acuity as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AYI. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in Acuity by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 152 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 6,269 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,159,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Illumine Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Illumine Investment Management LLC now owns 2,872 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Acuity by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 617 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Acuity from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered Acuity from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Acuity from $342.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $369.17.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $288.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,766.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,532. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura O'shaughnessy acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $282.98 per share, with a total value of $282,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $880,350.78. This trade represents a 47.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Down 2.8%

NYSE AYI opened at $281.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.32. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $253.03 and a one year high of $380.17. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $280.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $320.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 2nd. The electronics maker reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 9.37%.The firm's revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

Acuity Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc NYSE: AYI is a leading provider of lighting fixtures, controls and building management solutions designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential markets. The company's core offerings include a broad range of LED luminaires, lighting controls, sensors and networked building systems that enhance energy efficiency, occupant comfort and operational productivity. Acuity Brands' portfolio spans indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, emergency lighting, task lighting and architectural products, as well as advanced controls such as daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing and wireless sensor networks.

Beyond traditional lighting, Acuity Brands delivers integrated digital solutions through its Connected Building platform, which combines smart sensors, cloud-based analytics and mobile applications to enable real-time monitoring and remote management of lighting and environmental systems.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.