QRG Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Acuity, Inc. (AYI) by 12.1% during the second quarter, now holding 10,279 shares valued at approximately $3.07 million.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for October 17th.
• Multiple analysts have updated their ratings for Acuity, with TD Cowen raising the target price from $330 to $390 and reaffirming a "buy" rating.

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,279 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Acuity were worth $3,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Acuity by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,118,613 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $821,287,000 after purchasing an additional 14,071 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 1.7% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,139,857 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $300,181,000 after buying an additional 18,878 shares in the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 0.9% in the first quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,098,485 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $289,286,000 after buying an additional 10,008 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Acuity by 3.0% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 832,491 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $219,237,000 after acquiring an additional 24,225 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Acuity by 34.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 613,217 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $157,910,000 after acquiring an additional 157,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Down 0.3%

AYI opened at $351.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.64. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $329.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.28. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $375.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is 5.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.17.

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.

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