Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $7.38 Million Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 41.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,350 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,766 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.09% of Acuity worth $7,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Acuity by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 617 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake 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 during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 1.6% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 6,805 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,450,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Acuity by 59.2% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 113 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE AYI opened at $333.45 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $314.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $305.85. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $257.04 and a one year high of $380.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.12 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price objective on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.17.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In related news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $288.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,532. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.