Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Bought by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ

Key Points

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 6.7% in Q1, owning 77,657 shares valued at approximately $20.45 million.
• Acuity reported EPS of $5.12 for the quarter, surpassing estimates by $0.68, along with a revenue increase of 21.7% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17, representing a 0.23% yield, scheduled to be paid on August 1st.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 6.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,657 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 4,896 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ owned 0.25% of Acuity worth $20,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in Acuity by 525.0% in the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at $71,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Acuity currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This represents a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Acuity Trading Up 2.1%

AYI stock traded up $6.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $317.47. 89,534 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 349,884. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.69. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $345.30.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. Acuity's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.36%.

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.