Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Sold by Kennedy Capital Management LLC

Kennedy Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 26,801 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 3,572 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $9,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth about $1,028,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 113,765 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $40,960,000 after acquiring an additional 24,258 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth about $5,475,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,495 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,059,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $296.89 on Monday. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.04 and a 12-month high of $380.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $311.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 2nd. The electronics maker reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.03. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 9.37%.The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.06 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, Director Laura O’shaughnessy acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $282.98 per share, with a total value of $282,980.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,350.78. This represents a 47.37% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $288.83 per share, with a total value of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,532. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

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.