Ieq Capital LLC Purchases New Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 30,757 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $11,585,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,019,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Acuity by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 308,665 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $111,132,000 after acquiring an additional 83,936 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Acuity by 57.0% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 31,233 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $11,245,000 after acquiring an additional 11,341 shares during the period. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,572,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Trading Up 0.6%

AYI opened at $343.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $339.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $307.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.04 and a 12-month high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th were given 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 presently 5.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.