Bank of America Corp DE Acquires Shares of 281,470 Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 281,470 Acuity shares in the second quarter, worth approximately $106 million and representing about 0.94% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 98.21% of Acuity.
• Acuity’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $5.31 versus the $5.17 consensus and revenue of $1.20 billion, up 1.6% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $397.17; Acuity also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 281,470 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $106,018,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.94% of Acuity at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Acuity in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Acuity by 110.2% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 103 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Trading Up 1.1%

AYI stock opened at $302.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $334.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $309.23. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $257.04 and a 52 week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 17th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AYI. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings raised Acuity from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 target price on Acuity in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $397.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total transaction of $659,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,750,880.14. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Acuity

Acuity, formerly known as Acuity Brands, Inc, is an industrial technology company that develops products and systems for lighting, building management and connected spaces. Its offerings are designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential applications, helping customers manage illumination, energy use, occupancy and other aspects of the built environment.

The company's lighting portfolio includes indoor and outdoor fixtures, lighting controls, and related components.

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