Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Bought by Picton Mahoney Asset Management

Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 202.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,448 shares of the electronics maker's stock after buying an additional 3,645 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management's holdings in Acuity were worth $1,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its position 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter worth $110,236,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 29,415.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227,271 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $59,852,000 after purchasing an additional 226,501 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Acuity by 241.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 216,007 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $63,102,000 after purchasing an additional 152,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Acuity by 1,256.1% in the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 161,183 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,086,000 after purchasing an additional 149,297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,980,115.40. This represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased 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. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.60.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI traded down $6.48 on Friday, reaching $304.87. 290,082 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 278,617. 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's 50-day moving average price is $286.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.02, a PEG ratio of 1.91 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.

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 net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.15 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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