Horizon Investments LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 20.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,473 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,146 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $6,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Acuity by 17.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Acuity by 372.7% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 208 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity by 1.8% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity in the second quarter valued at approximately $762,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Acuity from $342.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Acuity from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.17.

Acuity Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of AYI opened at $289.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.07. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $242.56 and a one year high of $380.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $281.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $324.65.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

Insider Activity

In other Acuity news, Director Laura O’shaughnessy bought 1,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $282.98 per share, for a total transaction of $282,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,350.78. This represents a 47.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.