Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Bought by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 217.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,061 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,205 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Acuity were worth $2,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Acuity in the 4th quarter worth about $2,019,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Acuity by 499.6% during 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 during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Acuity by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 308,665 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $111,132,000 after buying an additional 83,936 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Acuity by 120.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,820 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,177,000 after buying an additional 7,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Acuity by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 92,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $33,172,000 after buying an additional 21,118 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AYI. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price objective on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $288.83 per share, with a total value of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,532. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $330.36 on Monday. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.04 and a 1 year high of $380.17. The company has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $318.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $304.05.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.12 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.31%.

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.