US Bancorp DE Sells 103 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

US Bancorp DE lowered its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,085 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 103 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Acuity were worth $920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Acuity by 103.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 312,904 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $82,403,000 after purchasing an additional 158,741 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity by 34.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 613,217 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $157,910,000 after acquiring an additional 157,790 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Acuity in the 1st quarter worth $33,325,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Acuity in the 1st quarter worth $28,341,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity in the 1st quarter worth $27,740,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AYI. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $395.17.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $357.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $375.67. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $338.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.54.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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