Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Bought by Candriam S.C.A.

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. significantly increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 224.1%, acquiring an additional 27,257 shares, bringing its total to 39,418 shares valued at approximately $10.38 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Acuity, with Morgan Stanley setting a new objective of $365.00, reflecting an optimistic outlook for the company's stock.
• Acuity reported quarterly earnings of $5.12 per share, exceeding estimates and showcasing a year-over-year revenue growth of 21.7% with reported revenue of $1.18 billion.

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 224.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,418 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 27,257 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.13% of Acuity worth $10,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AYI. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,000. Mariner LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 52.0% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,111 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 790 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 326.0% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,143 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 17,233 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $5,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.60.

Acuity Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of NYSE:AYI traded up $12.6310 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $326.9210. 144,261 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 270,855. The firm has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.76, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.99. Acuity, Inc. has a 52-week low of $216.81 and a 52-week high of $345.30. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $301.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.73.

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

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity's payout ratio is currently 5.36%.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total transaction of $1,806,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was 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 owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. The trade was a 38.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Acuity Company Profile

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.