CCM Investment Group LLC Takes $390,000 Position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Key Points

• CCM Investment Group LLC has acquired 1,488 shares of Acuity, Inc. valued at approximately $390,000, according to the firm's recent 13F filing with the SEC.
• Acuity reported a 21.7% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, reaching $1.18 billion, and earnings per share (EPS) of $5.12, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• Many institutional investors have increased their positions in Acuity, leading to institutional ownership now comprising 98.21% of the company's stock.

CCM Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,488 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Acuity by 158.9% in the fourth quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,088,477 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $317,977,000 after purchasing an additional 668,048 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Acuity by 29,415.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227,271 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $59,852,000 after purchasing an additional 226,501 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in Acuity by 1,256.1% in the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 161,183 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,086,000 after purchasing an additional 149,297 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Acuity in the first quarter valued at about $27,740,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,507,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI traded down $3.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $316.06. The company had a trading volume of 56,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 343,337. The stock has a market cap of $9.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $345.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $296.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $280.70.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business's revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.60.

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.