Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Acquired by Clark Capital Management Group Inc.

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 4.0%, purchasing an additional 8,342 shares in the first quarter, bringing their total holdings to 214,862 shares valued at approximately $56.6 million.
• Acuity reported earnings of $5.12 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.44, while revenue increased by 21.7% year-over-year to $1.18 billion.
• Equities analysts have given Acuity a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target averaging $352.60, indicating potential upside in the stock.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 214,862 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 8,342 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned about 0.70% of Acuity worth $56,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 384,504 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $112,325,000 after acquiring an additional 12,492 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,889 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Acuity during the 4th quarter worth $27,507,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Acuity by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,289 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Acuity during the 4th quarter worth $2,391,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $1,806,240.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $380.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $352.60.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI stock traded down $7.31 on Tuesday, hitting $330.17. The company had a trading volume of 93,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 331,679. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $312.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.39. The stock has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.65. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $345.30. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. The company's revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

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.