Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Purchases 100,036 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 87.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 213,801 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 100,036 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Acuity were worth $59,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $336.05 on Tuesday. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.04 and a 1 year high of $380.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $319.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.78. The firm has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

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

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s payout ratio is presently 5.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AYI shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $115,532. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.