Graham Capital Management L.P. Increases Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 70.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,694 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,244 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $4,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Acuity by 8,338.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Acuity by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $20,158,000 after acquiring an additional 11,144 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Acuity by 372.7% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 208 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Acuity by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $762,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity news, Director Laura O’shaughnessy acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $282.98 per share, with a total value of $282,980.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,350.78. The trade was a 47.37% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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, with a total value of $57,766.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,532. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $306.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $310.16. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.04 and a 1-year high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 2nd. The electronics maker reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.06 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $342.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Acuity from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Acuity from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Acuity currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.17.

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.