Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $7.38 Million Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 41.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,350 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,766 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Acuity were worth $7,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in Acuity by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 18,800 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Acuity by 59.1% during the first quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Acuity by 1.4% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 7,294 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,044,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $333.45 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.04 and a 1 year high of $380.17. 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 firm has a market cap of $9.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $314.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $305.85.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AYI. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price objective on Acuity in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Acuity presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $115,532. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company 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.