UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Lowers Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lessened its position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 1.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 207,903 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 3,598 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $78,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 8,338.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 17.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $20,158,000 after purchasing an additional 11,144 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 372.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 208 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Acuity by 1.8% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth $762,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $330.58 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $343.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $308.53. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.04 and a 12-month high of $380.17. The company has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.92, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.44 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price objective on shares of Acuity in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.