Teacher Retirement System of Texas Reduces Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,391 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 2,734 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.07% of Acuity worth $7,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Acuity by 50,220.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,263,925 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the second quarter valued at approximately $119,587,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the second quarter valued at approximately $115,595,000. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 64.0% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 574,975 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $171,580,000 after buying an additional 224,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Durable Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 13.8% in the second quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,249,899 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $372,895,000 after buying an additional 151,414 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,489 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.11, for a total transaction of $1,638,978.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,211,106.16. This trade represents a 42.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $395.17.

Acuity Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:AYI opened at $315.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.81 and a 1-year high of $380.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $353.24 and a 200 day moving average of $341.21. The firm has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.50.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. Acuity had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is an increase from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.23%.

Acuity Company 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.