Acuity, Inc. $AYI is Greenstone Partners & Co. LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• Greenstone Partners & Co. LLC increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 46.8% in the first quarter, owning 161,542 shares valued at approximately $42.54 million.
• Acuity reported $5.12 earnings per share for the recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.44, with a revenue increase of 21.7% year-over-year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, yielding 0.2%, with a dividend payout ratio of 5.36%.

Greenstone Partners & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 46.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 161,542 shares of the electronics maker's stock after buying an additional 51,467 shares during the quarter. Acuity comprises approximately 11.3% of Greenstone Partners & Co. LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Greenstone Partners & Co. LLC owned about 0.52% of Acuity worth $42,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 525.0% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. 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 during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at $79,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its position in Acuity by 31.7% in the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 320 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of Acuity stock traded up $12.6310 during trading on Friday, hitting $326.9210. 144,261 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 270,855. The firm has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Acuity, Inc. has a 52-week low of $216.81 and a 52-week high of $345.30. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $301.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.73.

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

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total transaction of $1,806,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,628,243.84. This trade represents a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.