Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) saw a significant drop in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 798,928 shares, a drop of 20.9% from the February 12th total of 1,009,472 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 418,050 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 418,050 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total transaction of $1,538,110.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,655,557.29. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Acuity by 50,220.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $676,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263,925 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Acuity by 6,496.7% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 692,189 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $249,216,000 after purchasing an additional 681,696 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at $119,587,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $115,595,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 98.4% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 571,017 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $196,653,000 after buying an additional 283,203 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AYI. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 target price on shares of Acuity in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $389.33.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI traded up $2.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $260.55. The company had a trading volume of 368,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 475,173. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $310.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $339.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.50. Acuity has a 1-year low of $216.81 and a 1-year high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 9.04%.Acuity’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Acuity will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is a boost from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is 6.15%.

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.