Morningstar Investment Management LLC Acquires 2,226 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Morningstar Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 72.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,305 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,226 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $1,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:AYI opened at $330.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $318.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $304.56. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.04 and a 1 year high of $380.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

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

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $288.83 per share, with a total value of $57,766.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,532. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on AYI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $465.00 target price on shares of Acuity in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.17.

Acuity Profile

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.