ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Acquires Shares of 92,304 Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired 92,304 shares of Acuity, Inc. for approximately $24.3 million, marking a new investment in the company that represents 0.30% of its total shares.
• Acuity's latest quarterly earnings beat analysts' expectations, reporting $5.12 EPS on revenue of $1.18 billion, a 21.7% increase year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.2% and a dividend payout ratio of 5.36%.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 92,304 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $24,311,000. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. owned 0.30% of Acuity as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AYI. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Acuity by 78.8% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,061 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $3,523,000 after buying an additional 5,316 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Acuity by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at about $443,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Acuity by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,609 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $25,009,000 after buying an additional 3,866 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Acuity by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 88,920 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $26,081,000 after buying an additional 16,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AYI. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.60.

Acuity Stock Up 0.7%

AYI stock traded up $2.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $307.00. The company had a trading volume of 157,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 292,552. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.68. The company has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.19, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $345.30.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.15 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Acuity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of Acuity 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 approximately $5,628,243.84. This trade represents a 24.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was 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 approximately $1,980,115.40. The trade was a 38.33% 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.

Acuity Profile

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.