Northern Trust Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Acuity, Inc. by 1.1%, now owning approximately 1.13% of the company valued at $92,031,000.
• Wall Street analysts have raised price targets for Acuity; Morgan Stanley's new target is $365.00, reflecting a generally favorable outlook with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Acuity reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $5.12 per share, surpassing estimates of $4.44, with revenue up 21.7% year-over-year.

Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 349,463 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 3,845 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.13% of Acuity worth $92,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 525.0% in the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 31.7% in the 1st quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 320 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:AYI traded down $4.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $324.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 96,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 337,046. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $345.30. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.64. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $306.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $280.56.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.15 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Acuity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,115.40. The trade was a 38.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AYI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.60.

About Acuity

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.