Inscription Capital LLC Buys New Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Inscription Capital LLC bought a new position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 1,583 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,717 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,503,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the third quarter worth $44,000. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in Acuity by 3.7% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 937 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Acuity by 4.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,994 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its holdings in Acuity by 191.8% in the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 3,472 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,282 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AYI. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Acuity from $360.00 to $348.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. William Blair cut shares of Acuity from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Acuity from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $374.20.

Acuity Price Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $323.44 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $313.78 and its 200 day moving average is $310.15. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.04 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.57 by $0.20. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.30% and a net margin of 11.45%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 20.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 16th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 16th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In other news, CEO Neil Ashe sold 22,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.33, for a total transaction of $7,000,299.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,262 shares in the company, valued at $27,373,520.46. This trade represents a 20.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 3,800 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.48, for a total transaction of $1,221,624.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,115,338.40. This trade represents a 36.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 36,047 shares of company stock valued at $11,537,354 over the last 90 days. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Acuity Company Profile

Acuity (NYSE: AYI) designs, manufactures and sells lighting and building-management solutions. Its offerings include indoor and outdoor luminaires, lighting controls, building automation systems and related software for commercial, industrial, institutional and residential settings.

The company sells products under a portfolio of brands, including Lithonia Lighting, Juno, Peerless, Gotham and Distech Controls. Its solutions help customers manage lighting, building systems and energy use across a range of facilities.

Founded in 2001 as a spin-off from National Service Industries, Acuity is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and serves customers in North America and selected international markets.