Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys 5,637 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 23.4%, acquiring an additional 5,637 shares in the 2nd quarter, bringing its total ownership to 29,685 shares valued at approximately $8.86 million.
• Acuity's latest earnings report showed earnings per share of $5.12, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.44, with a revenue increase of 21.7% year-over-year.
• Several analysts have upgraded Acuity's stock rating and increased their price targets, with the average consensus target price now at $357.60.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,685 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 5,637 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.10% of Acuity worth $8,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity during the first quarter valued at $250,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Acuity in the first quarter worth about $379,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Acuity by 20.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,533 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $7,514,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Acuity by 12.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 542,715 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $142,907,000 after purchasing an additional 60,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Acuity by 12.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 863 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $339.00 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $323.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $285.49. The company has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.99. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $349.00.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.15 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $380.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $357.60.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the company'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 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 at this link. 2.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Acuity 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.