Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 98.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,088 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,301 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Acuity were worth $16,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in shares of Acuity by 25.6% in the third quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 152 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity by 0.5% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 6,269 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Illumine Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity by 1.2% in the third quarter. Illumine Investment Management LLC now owns 2,872 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $989,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 617 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity by 1.8% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In related news, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $288.83 per share, with a total value of $57,766.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,532. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Laura O’shaughnessy acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $282.98 per share, for a total transaction of $282,980.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,350.78. This represents a 47.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of AYI opened at $279.49 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $280.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $317.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.03 and a 1-year high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 2nd. The electronics maker reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.06 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Acuity’s payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $342.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Acuity from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.17.

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.