Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Makes New $379,000 Investment in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd has made a new investment of approximately $379,000 in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE: AYI), purchasing 1,440 shares in the first quarter.
• Acuity's stock recently experienced positive analyst activity, with upgrades from various brokerages, including a raise in price targets and an overall consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company reported a $5.12 EPS for its latest quarterly earnings, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $4.44, with a revenue increase of 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,440 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Acuity by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,550 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $2,206,000 after buying an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Acuity by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 67,281 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $19,655,000 after buying an additional 3,002 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in Acuity by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,265 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,540,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Acuity by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 15,812 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $4,619,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Acuity by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,221 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the 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 directly owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Up 2.8%

AYI opened at $339.48 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $314.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.65. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $345.30.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during 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 firm's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

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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