Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Takes Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec purchased 4,442 Acuity shares worth approximately $1.67 million during the second quarter. Other institutions also initiated positions, and institutional investors now own 98.21% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is favorable, with five Buy ratings and four Holds; Acuity has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $397.17.
• Acuity exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.31 in earnings per share and $1.20 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 1.6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,442 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,673,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Man Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at $17,827,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the second quarter valued at $4,661,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the second quarter valued at $5,062,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Acuity in the second quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Acuity in the second quarter valued at about $11,021,000. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on AYI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $397.17.

Acuity Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $335.44 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. Acuity, Inc. has a 12 month low of $257.04 and a 12 month high of $380.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $342.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $308.53. The stock has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.29.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.12 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is 5.31%.

Acuity Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc NYSE: AYI is a leading provider of lighting fixtures, controls and building management solutions designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential markets. The company's core offerings include a broad range of LED luminaires, lighting controls, sensors and networked building systems that enhance energy efficiency, occupant comfort and operational productivity. Acuity Brands' portfolio spans indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, emergency lighting, task lighting and architectural products, as well as advanced controls such as daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing and wireless sensor networks.

Beyond traditional lighting, Acuity Brands delivers integrated digital solutions through its Connected Building platform, which combines smart sensors, cloud-based analytics and mobile applications to enable real-time monitoring and remote management of lighting and environmental systems.

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