Mackenzie Financial Corp Invests $574,000 in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Acuity, Inc. during Q1, purchasing 2,181 shares valued at approximately $574,000.
• Acuity reported a 21.7% year-over-year increase in revenue, achieving $1.18 billion and surpassing analyst estimates, along with an EPS of $5.12 for the latest quarter.
• The company's quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share was paid on August 1st, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.2% with a payout ratio of 5.36%.

Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,181 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Acuity by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,120,979 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $327,471,000 after buying an additional 8,705 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 158.9% in the 4th quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,088,477 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $317,977,000 after purchasing an additional 668,048 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 603,446 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $176,285,000 after purchasing an additional 61,765 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 455,427 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $133,044,000 after buying an additional 82,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its holdings in Acuity by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 436,060 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $127,386,000 after purchasing an additional 9,513 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of AYI stock traded up $2.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $307.00. The company had a trading volume of 157,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 348,040. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30. The company's fifty day moving average is $291.54 and its 200 day moving average is $281.07.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced 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 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 analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.15 EPS. The company's revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. Acuity's payout ratio is 5.36%.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total value of $1,806,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on 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 upgraded shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.60.

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.