MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Has $54.23 Million Stock Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. decreased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 3.0%, resulting in ownership of 205,920 shares valued at approximately $54.2 million.
• Acuity, Inc. reported $5.12 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $4.44 and showing a 21.7% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Recent analyst ratings for Acuity have been increasing, with several firms raising their price targets and recommending a "strong-buy" stance.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 205,920 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 6,471 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned approximately 0.67% of Acuity worth $54,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Acuity by 29,415.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227,271 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $59,852,000 after purchasing an additional 226,501 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $157,910,000 after acquiring an additional 157,790 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,325,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,341,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,740,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was 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 owned 18,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total value 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. The trade was 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Acuity Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of AYI stock traded up $8.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $339.16. 68,840 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 331,179. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $313.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.07. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30. The company has a market capitalization of $10.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.99.

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

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Acuity 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.