Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Acquired by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 121.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,312 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 5,105 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $3,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Acuity by 8,338.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Acuity by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $20,158,000 after purchasing an additional 11,144 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Acuity by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,922 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,960,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 31.2% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 328 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 585.2% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 740 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $311.75 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $353.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $340.62. The company has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.50.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Acuity’s payout ratio is currently 5.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,489 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.11, for a total value of $1,638,978.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,211,106.16. The trade was a 42.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 price objective on Acuity in a report on Friday, January 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Acuity from $380.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.17.

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.