Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Sold by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 133,677 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 8,297 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $48,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Acuity by 57.0% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 31,233 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $11,245,000 after buying an additional 11,341 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 1,038 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Acuity by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 570,088 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $205,296,000 after acquiring an additional 20,859 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 114.4% during the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 328 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 180.9% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,823 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,177,000 after acquiring an additional 5,682 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AYI. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Acuity from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Acuity from $342.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Five 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $288.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,766.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,532. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Laura O’shaughnessy bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $282.98 per share, for a total transaction of $282,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,350.78. The trade was a 47.37% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Price Performance

Acuity stock opened at $299.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.32. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.03 and a 12-month high of $380.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $283.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.93.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 2nd. The electronics maker reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

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.