Truist Financial Corp Trims Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp has reduced its holdings in Acuity, Inc. by 47.2%, selling 4,005 shares and retaining 4,475 shares valued at $1,335,000.
• Acuity has received multiple upgrades from research analysts, with price targets increased significantly by firms like TD Cowen and Morgan Stanley, indicating strong expectations for the company.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.2%, with the dividend payout scheduled for November 3rd.

Truist Financial Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,475 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 4,005 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Acuity were worth $1,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Acuity in the first quarter valued at $250,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Acuity in the first quarter valued at $379,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 20.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,533 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $7,514,000 after buying an additional 4,886 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 12.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 542,715 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $142,907,000 after buying an additional 60,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 12.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 863 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AYI shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $395.17.

Acuity Stock Down 3.7%

AYI stock opened at $347.14 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $332.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.56. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $375.67.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity's payout ratio is presently 5.43%.

Acuity Company 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.