Boston Trust Walden Corp Purchases 87,153 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Acuity, Inc. by 43%, acquiring an additional 87,153 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 289,635 shares, valued at $86.41 million.
• Acuity, Inc. has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, with a yield of 0.2%, payable on November 3rd to shareholders recorded by October 17th.
• Acuity's stock ratings have improved, with multiple analysts upgrading their ratings, resulting in an average price target of $395.17 and a consensus of "Moderate Buy."

Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 43.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 289,635 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 87,153 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned about 0.94% of Acuity worth $86,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at $345,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 144.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,631 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,680,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at $407,000. Vest Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,255,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,446 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $359.76 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $375.67. The company has a market cap of $11.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $333.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.24.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AYI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.17.

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.

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