Strs Ohio Decreases Stake in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Strs Ohio lessened its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 88.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 738 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 5,927 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Acuity were worth $254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the third quarter worth $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Acuity by 1,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Acuity in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Acuity by 122.2% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.17.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI stock opened at $316.85 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $349.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $342.01. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $380.17. The firm has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Acuity Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is 5.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total transaction of $1,538,110.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.