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

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 valued at $327,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,705 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP grew its stake in Acuity by 158.9% in the 4th quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,088,477 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $317,977,000 after acquiring an additional 668,048 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Acuity by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 644,109 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $188,211,000 after acquiring an additional 17,299 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Acuity by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 603,446 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $176,285,000 after acquiring an additional 61,765 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Acuity by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 455,427 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $133,044,000 after acquiring an additional 82,947 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Three investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of Acuity 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,806,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of Acuity stock traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $311.40. 138,186 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 349,247. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $345.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $287.83 and a 200-day moving average of $281.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.64.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS 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 given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 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.