Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Boosts Stake in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. by 10.3%, owning 38,434 shares worth approximately $11.47 million.
• Several hedge funds have significantly boosted their stakes in Acuity, with Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increasing its holdings by 525% during the first quarter.
• Acuity's stock has been upgraded by multiple analysts, including Wells Fargo & Company, which raised the target price from $320 to $380, signifying growing investor confidence.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 10.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,434 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 3,593 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.13% of Acuity worth $11,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Acuity by 29,415.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227,271 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $59,852,000 after acquiring an additional 226,501 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 103.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 312,904 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $82,403,000 after buying an additional 158,741 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 34.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 613,217 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $157,910,000 after buying an additional 157,790 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the first quarter worth about $33,325,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the first quarter worth about $28,341,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Acuity Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:AYI traded up $0.85 on Tuesday, reaching $339.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 178,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 329,357. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $349.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $319.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $283.62.

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

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. Acuity's payout ratio is presently 5.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AYI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. 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, Acuity currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $352.60.

Acuity 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.