Morningstar Investment Management LLC Has $1.49 Million Stock Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Morningstar Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 72.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,305 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,226 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $1,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Acuity Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $330.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $318.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $304.56. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.04 and a 12-month high of $380.17. The company has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.27.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.31%.

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.