Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes $3.51 Million Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio established a new 9,326-share position in Acuity worth approximately $3.51 million during the second quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 98.21%, with BlackRock and Orion Portfolio Solutions among other major investors that recently added significant stakes.
• Acuity exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $5.31 in EPS and $1.20 billion in revenue. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $397.17, above the reported $334.12 share price.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,326 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,513,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Acuity in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,121,983,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 50,220.2% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $676,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263,925 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP grew its position in shares of Acuity by 9.1% during the third quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,363,619 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $469,617,000 after acquiring an additional 113,720 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 635,160 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $177,970,000 after acquiring an additional 47,880 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 633,060 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $218,071,000 after acquiring an additional 58,085 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE:AYI opened at $334.12 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $342.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $308.87. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.04 and a 1-year high of $380.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.29.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The business's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. Acuity's payout ratio is currently 5.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total transaction of $659,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 17,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,750,880.14. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Acuity from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $397.17.

Acuity Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc NYSE: AYI is a leading provider of lighting fixtures, controls and building management solutions designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential markets. The company's core offerings include a broad range of LED luminaires, lighting controls, sensors and networked building systems that enhance energy efficiency, occupant comfort and operational productivity. Acuity Brands' portfolio spans indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, emergency lighting, task lighting and architectural products, as well as advanced controls such as daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing and wireless sensor networks.

Beyond traditional lighting, Acuity Brands delivers integrated digital solutions through its Connected Building platform, which combines smart sensors, cloud-based analytics and mobile applications to enable real-time monitoring and remote management of lighting and environmental systems.

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