Vident Advisory LLC Has $1.17 Million Stake in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC reduced its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 74.5%, holding 4,434 shares valued at approximately $1.17 million following the sale of 12,980 shares in Q1.
• Acuity, Inc. reported $5.12 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue rising 21.7% year-over-year to $1.18 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, translating to a 0.2% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 5.36%.

Vident Advisory LLC decreased its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 74.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,434 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 12,980 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Acuity were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Acuity by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 863 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Acuity by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,592 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Acuity by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 99,827 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $26,290,000 after purchasing an additional 14,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Acuity by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 186,021 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $48,989,000 after purchasing an additional 51,430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:AYI opened at $331.79 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $310.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year high of $345.30. The company has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.65.

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

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. Acuity's payout ratio is currently 5.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% 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 corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $352.60.

About Acuity

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.

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