Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New $3.51 Million Investment in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,326 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,513,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AYI. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Acuity in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Acuity in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $334.12 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.04 and a 12-month high of $380.17. The stock has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.29. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $342.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $308.87.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 30th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total transaction of $659,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 17,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,750,880.14. This represents a 10.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

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.