Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 2.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 67,406 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $23,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised 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 worth $676,764,000 after buying an additional 2,263,925 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 151,414 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 6.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 840,508 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $250,759,000 after acquiring an additional 50,491 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 224,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Acuity during the second quarter valued at approximately $119,587,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $328.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $345.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $342.40. The stock has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.50. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. 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 dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AYI. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.17.

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.