B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Invests $803,000 in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG has acquired a new stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI), purchasing 3,051 shares worth approximately $803,000.
• Acuity reported a quarterly revenue of $1.18 billion, exceeding estimates, with earnings per share of $5.12, which beat the consensus estimate by $0.68.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $0.68 and a dividend yield of 0.2%.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG purchased a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,051 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $803,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in Acuity by 525.0% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Acuity by 45.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its stake in Acuity by 31.7% during the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 320 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Up 1.1%

Acuity stock traded up $3.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $336.14. The company had a trading volume of 49,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 334,705. The stock has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.65. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $345.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $310.35 and a 200 day moving average of $280.66.

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

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $352.60.

Insider Activity

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total value of $1,806,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.