UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 3,598 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management reduced its Acuity position by 1.7%, selling 3,598 shares and retaining 207,903 shares worth approximately $78.3 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 98.21% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with five Buy ratings and four Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $397.17.
• Acuity exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.31 in EPS versus the $5.17 estimate and $1.20 billion in revenue. Shares were trading at $330.58, while the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lessened its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 207,903 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 3,598 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.69% of Acuity worth $78,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 8,338.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Acuity by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $20,158,000 after purchasing an additional 11,144 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 372.7% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 208 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 1.8% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at $762,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price objective on Acuity in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Acuity from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $397.17.

Acuity Trading Up 1.4%

AYI stock opened at $330.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50 day moving average price is $343.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $308.53. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $257.04 and a one year high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The company's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

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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