Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $56.31 Million Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 2.5%, acquiring an additional 5,160 shares to reach a total of 213,836 shares valued at approximately $56.3 million.
• Acuity's latest quarter earnings report revealed an EPS of $5.12, surpassing estimates and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 21.7% to $1.18 billion.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for Acuity, with Morgan Stanley setting a new target of $365.00, reflecting a positive outlook on the stock's performance.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 213,836 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 5,160 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.69% of Acuity worth $56,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity by 3.2% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 790 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Acuity by 1.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,188 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity by 15.0% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 429 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 4.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,403 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI stock traded up $2.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $321.62. The stock had a trading volume of 46,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 342,422. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $345.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $279.81. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. The company 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 was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AYI. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,115.40. The trade was a 38.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the business'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 $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.