Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Boosts Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 8.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,944 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,478 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $16,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity in the second quarter valued at about $2,753,000. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,792 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 110.2% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 103 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 55 North Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the second quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Acuity by 9.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $356.15 on Wednesday. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.04 and a 1-year high of $380.17. The company has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The business has a 50-day moving average of $331.24 and a 200-day moving average of $305.53.

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

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio 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.