Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 36,000 Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 36,000 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $12,398,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity by 50,220.2% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $676,764,000 after buying an additional 2,263,925 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Acuity during the second quarter worth about $119,587,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at about $115,595,000. Boston Partners grew its stake in Acuity by 64.0% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 574,975 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $171,580,000 after acquiring an additional 224,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Acuity by 345.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 224,729 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $77,394,000 after acquiring an additional 174,265 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was 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 approximately $6,655,557.29. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $260.55 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $310.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $339.41. The company has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 9.04%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 target price on Acuity in a report on Friday, January 9th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Acuity presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $389.33.

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.