Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Makes New $6.56 Million Investment in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH has acquired a stake in Acuity, Inc. valued at approximately $6.56 million, representing about 0.08% of the company's shares.
• Acuity's stock saw substantial activity among institutional investors, with several firms, including Durable Capital Partners LP, increasing their holdings significantly in the recent quarters.
• Acuity recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, reflecting its commitment to returning value to shareholders with a low dividend payout ratio of 5.36%.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 24,917 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $6,562,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.08% of Acuity as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Acuity by 3.2% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 790 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Acuity by 15.0% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 429 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its holdings in Acuity by 31.7% in the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 320 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Trading Up 1.7%

AYI stock traded up $5.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $315.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 452,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,727. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.99. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $345.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.93.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AYI. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Acuity currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.