Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 127.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,306 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Acuity were worth $1,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity by 525.0% during the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Acuity during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 50.5% during 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Acuity by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total value of $1,806,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,628,243.84. This trade represents a 24.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on 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 upgraded shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.60.

Acuity Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Acuity stock traded up $4.50 on Friday, reaching $301.68. 218,380 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 291,525. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year high of $345.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $282.18 and a 200 day moving average of $281.86. The company has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.77, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.62.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.15 earnings per share. Acuity's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

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.