Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 32.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 378,006 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 92,094 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 1.25% of Acuity worth $105,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,019,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 499.6% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 164,275 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $59,145,000 after purchasing an additional 136,879 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Acuity by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 308,665 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $111,132,000 after buying an additional 83,936 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Acuity by 120.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,820 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,177,000 after buying an additional 7,543 shares during the period. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth $22,572,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $288.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,532. This trade 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 this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Up 1.0%

AYI stock opened at $330.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $318.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $304.56. 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 earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on Acuity in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.17.

Acuity Profile

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.