Quantbot Technologies LP Purchases 1,851 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,241 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,851 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Acuity were worth $4,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Acuity by 50,220.2% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $676,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263,925 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth $119,587,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth $115,595,000. Boston Partners increased its position in Acuity by 64.0% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 574,975 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $171,580,000 after buying an additional 224,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Durable Capital Partners LP raised its stake in Acuity by 13.8% in the second quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,249,899 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $372,895,000 after buying an additional 151,414 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Trading Down 2.0%

Acuity stock opened at $301.27 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.50. Acuity, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $380.17. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $329.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $342.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. Acuity had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This is an increase from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.15%.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $6,655,557.29. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 target price on Acuity in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Zacks Research downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.17.

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.