Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,323 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $800,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 121.3% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 9,312 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,207,000 after buying an additional 5,105 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 6.9% during the third quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 99,560 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $34,287,000 after acquiring an additional 6,452 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth $119,587,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Acuity by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 96,784 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $33,332,000 after acquiring an additional 7,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Acuity by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 319,092 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $109,892,000 after purchasing an additional 29,457 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at $6,655,557.29. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Acuity Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of AYI stock opened at $257.99 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $312.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $339.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $380.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.50.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a 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 payout ratio is currently 6.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AYI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Zacks Research lowered Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Monday, December 29th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 target price on Acuity in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $389.33.

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.