Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Reduces Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ cut its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 81.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,288 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 51,069 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Acuity were worth $3,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Acuity by 8,338.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Acuity by 17.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $20,158,000 after purchasing an additional 11,144 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $345,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at $555,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 136.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 296 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 target price on Acuity in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity 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 value of $1,538,110.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $311.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.07. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $334.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $342.73. The company has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 9.04%.The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. 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.