IFP Advisors Inc Cuts Stock Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

IFP Advisors Inc cut its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 6.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 669 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 45 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Acuity were worth $200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AYI. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Acuity in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in Acuity by 525.0% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its position in Acuity by 31.7% in the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 320 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Acuity by 31.2% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 328 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Acuity by 1,789.5% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 359 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $357.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $375.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $338.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.54.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Acuity from $380.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.17.

Acuity Company 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.