Gateway Wealth Partners LLC Takes Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Gateway Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,545 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in Acuity by 50,220.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $676,764,000 after buying an additional 2,263,925 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in Acuity by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,363,619 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $469,617,000 after acquiring an additional 113,720 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Acuity by 6,496.7% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 692,189 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $249,216,000 after acquiring an additional 681,696 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Acuity by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 635,160 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $177,970,000 after acquiring an additional 47,880 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in Acuity by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 633,060 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $218,071,000 after acquiring an additional 58,085 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Down 2.8%

Acuity stock opened at $328.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.27. Acuity, Inc. has a 52-week low of $257.04 and a 52-week high of $380.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $324.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $303.93.

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. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.44 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price objective on Acuity in a report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.17.

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.