1,390 Shares in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Acquired by Blueshift Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Blueshift Asset Management LLC has invested approximately $366,000 in Acuity, Inc. by purchasing 1,390 shares, signaling investor interest in the electronics maker.
• Acuity, Inc. reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $5.12, surpassing estimates and showing a 21.7% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company has a significant institutional ownership, with 98.21% of its stock held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,390 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $366,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 525.0% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 520.0% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 248 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AYI. 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. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report 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. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.60.

Insider Activity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of Acuity 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total value of $1,230,487.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,115.40. This represents a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of AYI stock traded down $1.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $306.17. The stock had a trading volume of 12,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 348,031. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $345.30. The company has a market cap of $9.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $281.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

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.