West Family Investments Inc. Buys Shares of 1,806 Acuity, Inc. $AYI

West Family Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,806 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $680,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position 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 buying an additional 136,879 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 57.0% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 31,233 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $11,245,000 after acquiring an additional 11,341 shares in the last quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth $22,572,000. Havemeyer Place LP acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth $1,259,000. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth $9,736,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI stock traded down $8.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $325.73. 167,178 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 397,735. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.04 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $342.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $309.05.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.12 EPS. Acuity’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on Acuity in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total value of $659,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,750,880.14. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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.