Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $16.38 Million Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its Acuity stake by 11.9% in the second quarter, selling 5,895 shares and retaining 43,491 shares worth approximately $16.38 million. Institutional investors collectively own 98.21% of Acuity’s stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with five Buy ratings and four Hold ratings. Acuity has an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $397.17.
• Acuity’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $5.31 per share and revenue of $1.20 billion, up 1.6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 11.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,491 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 5,895 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.15% of Acuity worth $16,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth about $2,019,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Acuity by 499.6% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 164,275 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $59,145,000 after buying an additional 136,879 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Acuity by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 308,665 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $111,132,000 after buying an additional 83,936 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 57.0% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 31,233 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $11,245,000 after buying an additional 11,341 shares during the period. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new position in Acuity during the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,572,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 target price on shares of Acuity in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Acuity from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $397.17.

Acuity Trading Up 0.5%

Acuity stock opened at $358.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.29. Acuity, Inc. has a 12 month low of $257.04 and a 12 month high of $380.17. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $332.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $305.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.12 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity's payout ratio is presently 5.31%.

Acuity Company Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc NYSE: AYI is a leading provider of lighting fixtures, controls and building management solutions designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential markets. The company's core offerings include a broad range of LED luminaires, lighting controls, sensors and networked building systems that enhance energy efficiency, occupant comfort and operational productivity. Acuity Brands' portfolio spans indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, emergency lighting, task lighting and architectural products, as well as advanced controls such as daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing and wireless sensor networks.

Beyond traditional lighting, Acuity Brands delivers integrated digital solutions through its Connected Building platform, which combines smart sensors, cloud-based analytics and mobile applications to enable real-time monitoring and remote management of lighting and environmental systems.

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