Lightrock Netherlands B.V. Boosts Holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Lightrock Netherlands B.V. boosted its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 63.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,413 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 6,359 shares during the quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. owned about 0.05% of Acuity worth $4,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Acuity by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 790 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Acuity by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Acuity by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,929 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,608,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Acuity by 45.3% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Acuity has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.60.

Acuity Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of AYI traded down $2.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $304.23. The company had a trading volume of 213,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 307,514. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $272.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $282.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.81 and a 1-year high of $345.30. The stock has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.62.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.15 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.36%.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of Acuity 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.