Durable Capital Partners LP Has $289.29 Million Stake in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Durable Capital Partners LP increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 0.9%, owning approximately 1,098,485 shares, which represents 2.6% of its total investment portfolio.
• Acuity reported a quarterly EPS of $5.12, exceeding analysts' estimates, and a revenue of $1.18 billion, marking a 21.7% year-over-year increase.
• Recent analyst ratings show optimism, with Morgan Stanley raising its price target from $335 to $365, while Acuity holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,098,485 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 10,008 shares during the period. Acuity accounts for approximately 2.6% of Durable Capital Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Durable Capital Partners LP owned approximately 3.55% of Acuity worth $289,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,841 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $9,595,000 after purchasing an additional 5,402 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 345,618 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $100,965,000 after purchasing an additional 34,562 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 64.3% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 12,855 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $3,755,000 after purchasing an additional 5,030 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 460.3% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 22,752 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $6,647,000 after purchasing an additional 18,691 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 384,504 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $112,325,000 after purchasing an additional 12,492 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of Acuity 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. This trade represents a 24.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, 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. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Acuity Price Performance

Acuity stock traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $338.65. 148,243 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 214,372. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $311.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.79. 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 has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.65.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AYI. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $352.60.

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.