Moran Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Moran Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 9.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,203 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $6,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Acuity in the 1st quarter worth $379,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Acuity by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,533 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,514,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Acuity by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 542,715 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $142,907,000 after purchasing an additional 60,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Acuity by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 863 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AYI. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.17.

Acuity Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE AYI opened at $362.37 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $334.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.92, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $375.67.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Acuity’s payout ratio is presently 5.43%.

Acuity Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch.