Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases New Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,477 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,062,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 499.6% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 164,275 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $59,145,000 after purchasing an additional 136,879 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 308,665 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $111,132,000 after buying an additional 83,936 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 57.0% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 31,233 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $11,245,000 after acquiring an additional 11,341 shares in the last quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at $22,572,000. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the second quarter worth $9,736,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE:AYI opened at $335.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a PEG 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. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $342.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $308.53.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price objective on Acuity in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Five 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.17.

About Acuity

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.