World Investment Advisors Invests $290,000 in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,102 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Acuity by 1,470.0% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 314 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Acuity by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,625 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $11,284,000 after buying an additional 11,583 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at $10,412,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at $13,394,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Acuity by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,345 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock traded down $4.03 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $294.40. The company had a trading volume of 171,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 354,963. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $275.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $281.94. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year high of $345.30. The firm has a market cap of $9.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 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 (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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. The company 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 firm's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the business'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 sale, the senior vice president owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. The trade was a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AYI shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" 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, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.60.

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.