Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Boosts Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 1,834.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,235 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 20,137 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Acuity were worth $5,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 98.4% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 571,017 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $196,653,000 after purchasing an additional 283,203 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at $2,019,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Acuity by 499.6% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 164,275 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $59,145,000 after acquiring an additional 136,879 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the 3rd quarter worth $54,514,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 3rd quarter worth $6,762,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.17.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In related news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $288.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $115,532. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura O’shaughnessy acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $282.98 per share, for a total transaction of $282,980.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,350.78. This represents a 47.37% 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 Stock Up 0.1%

Acuity stock opened at $359.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.83, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.27. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.04 and a 1-year high of $380.17. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $305.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $307.92.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s payout ratio is presently 5.31%.

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.