Ashford Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Ashford Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 65,722 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 11,085 shares during the quarter. Acuity makes up about 2.6% of Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $23,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Acuity by 98.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 571,017 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $196,653,000 after buying an additional 283,203 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $2,019,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Acuity by 2.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 815,050 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $280,695,000 after purchasing an additional 17,011 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Acuity in the third quarter valued at $54,514,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AYI. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Acuity from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings cut Acuity from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Acuity from $342.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.17.

Acuity Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $306.52 on Wednesday. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.04 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $310.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.31.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 2nd. The electronics maker reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.03. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 9.37%.The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 17th. Acuity’s payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In related news, Director Laura O’shaughnessy bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $282.98 per share, with a total value of $282,980.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,350.78. This trade represents a 47.37% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $288.83 per share, with a total value of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $115,532. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

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.