Short Interest in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Increases By 49.3%

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,009,472 shares, a growth of 49.3% from the January 29th total of 676,079 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 377,162 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 377,162 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Acuity in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Zacks Research cut Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total value of $1,538,110.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their position. The sale 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 owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 50,220.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $676,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263,925 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 113,720 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Acuity by 6.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 840,508 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $250,759,000 after buying an additional 50,491 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Acuity by 2.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 815,050 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $280,695,000 after buying an additional 17,011 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Acuity by 6,496.7% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 692,189 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $249,216,000 after acquiring an additional 681,696 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $301.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $329.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $342.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.07. Acuity has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year high of $380.17. The firm has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.50.

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

Acuity Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is an increase from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.15%.

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.