Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 82.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,160 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 5,340 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.'s holdings in Acuity were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 45.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 520.0% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 248 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock traded down $0.99 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $303.11. 214,196 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 307,674. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $345.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market cap of $9.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $273.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $282.26.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total value of $1,806,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AYI. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Acuity has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.60.

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.