Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Purchases 18,878 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 1.7%, bringing its total holdings to approximately 1.2% of the company's stock, valued at $300.2 million.
• Acuity recently reported quarterly earnings of $5.12 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations and marking a 21.7% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• A number of brokerage firms have upgraded Acuity's stock ratings, with a consensus target price now set at $340.60, reflecting a strong positive outlook for the company.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,139,857 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 18,878 shares during the period. Acuity comprises 1.2% of Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned about 3.69% of Acuity worth $300,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AYI. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in Acuity by 525.0% during the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew 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 acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth about $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of Acuity stock traded up $12.6310 during trading on Friday, reaching $326.9210. The company's stock had a trading volume of 143,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 340,312. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year 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 firm has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.64. The business's fifty day moving average price is $300.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.30.

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 firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.15 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.