Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Acuity, Inc. by 65.7%, now owning 2,912 shares valued at approximately $767,000, following a sale of 5,570 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have recently updated their ratings on Acuity, with Morgan Stanley raising its target price to $365.00 and issuing an "overweight" rating, amidst a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for the stock.
• Acuity reported earnings of $5.12 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue growth of 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 65.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,912 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 5,570 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Acuity were worth $767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth $640,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 78.8% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,061 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $3,523,000 after purchasing an additional 5,316 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $174,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Acuity by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,187 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,223,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Acuity by 431.2% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 84,953 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $24,991,000 after acquiring an additional 68,959 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Acuity Price Performance

AYI stock traded up $5.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $310.69. The stock had a trading volume of 182,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,009. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $286.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.19. The company has a market cap of $9.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Acuity, Inc. has a 52-week low of $216.81 and a 52-week 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, 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 business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.15 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the firm'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 directly owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at $5,628,243.84. This trade represents a 24.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at $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 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.