Empirical Finance LLC Makes New Investment in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Empirical Finance LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,048 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $771,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 35,316.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,575,171 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $4,736,564,000 after buying an additional 12,539,664 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Acuity in the second quarter worth $1,121,983,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted 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 valued at $676,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263,925 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $138,747,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth $106,018,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.17.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $316.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.04 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17. The business has a fifty day moving average of $339.41 and a 200-day moving average of $309.24. The stock has a market cap of $9.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.29.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s payout ratio is presently 5.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total value of $659,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,750,880.14. This represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

About Acuity

Acuity, formerly known as Acuity Brands, Inc, is an industrial technology company that develops products and systems for lighting, building management and connected spaces. Its offerings are designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential applications, helping customers manage illumination, energy use, occupancy and other aspects of the built environment.

The company’s lighting portfolio includes indoor and outdoor fixtures, lighting controls, and related components.