Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Has $5.26 Million Stock Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,800 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Acuity were worth $5,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 59.1% in the 1st quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Acuity by 1.4% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 7,294 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,044,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Acuity by 4.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 68,028 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $19,063,000 after purchasing an additional 2,623 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Acuity by 74.2% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,665 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the period. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension lifted its stake in Acuity by 42.9% in the first quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension now owns 89,573 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $25,100,000 after buying an additional 26,880 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI stock opened at $327.84 on Wednesday. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.04 and a 1-year high of $380.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $311.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $306.16.

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

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $288.83 per share, with a total value of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $115,532. This represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AYI shares. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 target price on Acuity in a research report 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. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.