Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 23,301 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB nearly doubled its Acuity stake in the fourth quarter, buying 23,301 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 47,088 shares worth about $16.95 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed but still constructive: Acuity has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with a consensus price target of $369.17, even as several analysts trimmed their targets.
• Acuity recently reported better-than-expected EPS of $4.14 on revenue of $1.06 billion, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 98.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,088 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 23,301 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.15% of Acuity worth $16,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Acuity in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on AYI shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Acuity from $342.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Acuity from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Acuity from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $369.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity news, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $288.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,766.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $115,532. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Laura O'shaughnessy bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $282.98 per share, for a total transaction of $282,980.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,111 shares in the company, valued at $880,350.78. This trade represents a 47.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Acuity Stock Performance

Acuity stock opened at $279.49 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $280.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $317.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.32. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.03 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 2nd. The electronics maker reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 17th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.87%.

About Acuity

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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