Lightrock Netherlands B.V. Grows Stake in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Lightrock Netherlands B.V. increased its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 176.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 44,803 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,600 shares during the period. Acuity accounts for 1.3% of Lightrock Netherlands B.V.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Lightrock Netherlands B.V.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $12,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AYI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 target price on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $288.83 per share, with a total value of $57,766.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $115,532. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Price Performance

Acuity stock opened at $340.02 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.04 and a 12-month high of $380.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $313.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $305.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s payout ratio is presently 5.31%.

About Acuity

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.