Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 16.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 99,827 shares of the electronics maker's stock after buying an additional 14,218 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Acuity worth $26,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in Acuity by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 790 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Acuity by 50.5% during 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Acuity by 45.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Acuity by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,345 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were 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. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 approximately $1,980,115.40. The trade was 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Acuity Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:AYI traded down $2.00 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $288.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 61,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,669. The company has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.62. 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 quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $278.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.97.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Acuity's payout ratio is 5.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.