Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 16.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 7,053 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $11,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Acuity by 8,338.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $20,158,000 after purchasing an additional 11,144 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,336 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth $212,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Acuity by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,357 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AYI. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 target price on Acuity in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Acuity currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $389.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total transaction of $1,538,110.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at $6,655,557.29. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Acuity Stock Down 2.6%

Acuity stock opened at $265.83 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $314.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $340.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.50. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 9.04%.The company’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

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

Acuity 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.