Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Buys New Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 19,634 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $6,762,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP owned about 0.06% of Acuity as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the third quarter worth $33,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 122.2% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Acuity during the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Acuity by 5,200.0% during the third 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. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total transaction of $1,538,110.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Acuity Stock Down 0.1%

AYI opened at $267.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $301.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $337.13. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released 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. Acuity had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change 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 was Monday, February 2nd. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is 6.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AYI. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Monday, December 29th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $389.33.

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.