Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires Shares of 3,878 Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,878 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,021,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Acuity by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,345 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,021 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $640,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,226 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,624 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Acuity Stock Up 0.5%

AYI stock traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $292.51. The company had a trading volume of 219,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 306,570. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $279.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.91. The company has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.62. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.36%.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% 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.