2,047 Shares in Acuity, Inc. $AYI Bought by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,047 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $771,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the second quarter valued at about $1,121,983,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 50,220.2% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $676,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263,925 shares in the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 9.1% in the third quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,363,619 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $469,617,000 after acquiring an additional 113,720 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Acuity by 8.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 635,160 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $177,970,000 after purchasing an additional 47,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Acuity by 10.1% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 633,060 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $218,071,000 after purchasing an additional 58,085 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:AYI opened at $335.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company has a market capitalization of $10.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.29. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $257.04 and a one year high of $380.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $342.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $308.53.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.12 earnings per share. Acuity’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.17.

Acuity Company 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.