Ashford Capital Management Inc. Acquires 11,085 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Ashford Capital Management increased its stake in Acuity by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 11,085 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 65,722 shares worth about $23.7 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious but constructive: several firms lowered price targets, yet the stock still carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $369.17 average target price.
• Acuity posted mixed but solid fundamentals, reporting quarterly EPS of $4.14, slightly above estimates, while revenue came in below expectations; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Ashford Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,722 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 11,085 shares during the period. Acuity accounts for about 2.6% of Ashford Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Ashford Capital Management Inc. owned 0.21% of Acuity worth $23,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 6,805 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 41 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 equities research analysts recently weighed in on AYI shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Acuity from $342.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Acuity from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Acuity from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $369.17.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other Acuity news, Director Laura O'shaughnessy acquired 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $282.98 per share, with a total value of $282,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,350.78. This trade represents a 47.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $288.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,532. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Acuity Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of AYI stock opened at $306.52 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $290.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.31. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.04 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 2nd. The electronics maker reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company's revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 17th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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