Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 16,605 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 63.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,725 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 16,605 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Acuity were worth $2,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in Acuity by 50,220.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $676,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263,925 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Acuity by 6,496.7% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 692,189 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $249,216,000 after purchasing an additional 681,696 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at about $138,747,000. Palestra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity during the third quarter valued at about $91,539,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at about $78,249,000. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AYI. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.17.

Acuity Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of AYI opened at $328.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.27. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.04 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $324.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.93.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.44 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

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.