Man Group plc Takes $17.83 Million Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 47,329 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $17,827,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,661,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,062,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,021,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the second quarter valued at approximately $14,912,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $342.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $308.34. The stock has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.29. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.04 and a 1-year high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AYI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price objective on Acuity in a report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently 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.