Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Has $63.55 Million Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 42.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 184,536 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,252 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $63,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 122.2% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Acuity by 5,200.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 106 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Up 1.1%

AYI stock opened at $260.55 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $380.17. 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 company has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $310.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $339.37.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 9.04%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.97 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,655,557.29. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 price objective on Acuity in a research note on Friday, January 9th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Acuity has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $389.33.

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.