Private Client Services LLC Purchases 1,178 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Private Client Services LLC increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 63% during the second quarter, now holding a total of 3,048 shares valued at $909,000.
• Acuity's CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares for approximately $1.8 million, representing a 24.3% decrease in her position, highlighting possible insider actions in the company.
• The company reported earnings per share of $5.12 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and marking a 21.7% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Private Client Services LLC increased its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 63.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,048 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the quarter. Private Client Services LLC's holdings in Acuity were worth $909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,935 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 15,389 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $4,053,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,188 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 429 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. The trade was a 38.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $336.57 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $314.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.50. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $345.30. The firm has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.15 EPS. The business's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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 research note on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $320.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $352.60.

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.

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