Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Acquired by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Acuity, Inc. by 4.1%, acquiring an additional 2,434 shares during the first quarter to own a total of 62,038 shares valued at approximately $16.3 million.
• Acuity reported earnings per share of $5.12 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.44 and marking a 21.7% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.18 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, leading to an annualized payout of $0.68, and has a dividend payout ratio of 5.36%.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,038 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,434 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.20% of Acuity worth $16,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AYI. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 29,415.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227,271 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $59,852,000 after acquiring an additional 226,501 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 34.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 613,217 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $157,910,000 after acquiring an additional 157,790 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Acuity during the first quarter worth $33,325,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Acuity during the first quarter worth $28,341,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Acuity during the first quarter valued at $27,740,000. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total transaction of $1,806,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. This trade represents a 24.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,980,115.40. This represents a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of Acuity stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $339.81. The company had a trading volume of 163,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 331,104. The stock has a market cap of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $314.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $281.30. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $345.30.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.15 EPS. Acuity's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders 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 currently 5.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AYI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $352.60.

Acuity Company 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.