Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Raises Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,420 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,480 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. owned 0.07% of Acuity worth $5,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Acuity by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Acuity by 520.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 248 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Acuity Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of AYI opened at $304.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $272.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $282.11. Acuity, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $345.30.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.15 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. Acuity's payout ratio is currently 5.36%.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total value of $1,806,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This represents a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Acuity 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.

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