Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,317 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 555 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Acuity were worth $8,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AYI. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth $32,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity by 525.0% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Acuity by 45.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity by 31.7% in the 1st quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 320 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of Acuity by 1,789.5% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 359 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $395.17.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $347.14 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $332.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.39. The company has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.95. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $375.67.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.43%.

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.