Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Victory Capital trimmed its stake in Acuity by 16.8% in Q3, selling 7,053 shares and ending the period with 34,808 shares worth about $11.99 million.
• Institutional ownership is very high (98.21%) with major position changes — Orion Portfolio Solutions massively increased to ~2.27 million shares while Durable Capital, JPMorgan, American Century and Boston Partners also raised stakes; meanwhile CFO Karen Holcom sold 4,974 shares, reducing her holding by 18.77% (insiders own 2.90%).
• Acuity recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($4.69 vs. $4.45), reported revenue up 20.2% year-over-year, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.20, and carries a consensus analyst price target near $389.33 (consensus: Moderate Buy).

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,808 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 7,053 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.11% of Acuity worth $11,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Acuity by 50,220.2% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $676,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263,925 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 13.8% in the second quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,249,899 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $372,895,000 after buying an additional 151,414 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 6.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 840,508 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $250,759,000 after buying an additional 50,491 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 815,050 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $280,695,000 after acquiring an additional 17,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 64.0% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 574,975 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $171,580,000 after acquiring an additional 224,469 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total value of $1,538,110.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $265.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.50. The firm's 50-day moving average is $314.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $340.36. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. Acuity had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.97 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is an increase from Acuity's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. Acuity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on AYI shares. Zacks Research lowered Acuity from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Acuity from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $389.33.

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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