West Family Investments Inc. Invests $680,000 in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,806 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $680,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Acuity in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,314,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $448,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $313,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at $320,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Up 1.1%

AYI opened at $349.36 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $337.87 and a 200-day moving average of $307.33. The company has a market capitalization of $10.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.29. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.04 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.05.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.12 earnings per share. Acuity’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price objective on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, 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 report on Friday, June 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Acuity currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.17.

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.