Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,396 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 2,774 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Acuity were worth $9,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Acuity by 8,338.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Acuity by 17.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $20,158,000 after purchasing an additional 11,144 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in Acuity by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 26,200 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $7,817,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 26,152 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,802,000 after buying an additional 1,909 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $315.01 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year high of $380.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $346.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $341.81.

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

Acuity Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. 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 is currently 6.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $1,538,110.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at $6,655,557.29. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AYI. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 target price on shares of Acuity in a report on Friday, January 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.