Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,602 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,340 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Acuity were worth $1,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Acuity by 3,175.0% in the second quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the second quarter valued at about $119,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at about $182,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $107,000. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $314,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,687 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.01, for a total transaction of $1,724,862.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,880,665.45. This trade represents a 30.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AYI shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Acuity from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.17.

Acuity Trading Up 0.5%

AYI opened at $360.65 on Thursday. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $375.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 28.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $352.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $311.20.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is 5.43%.

Acuity 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.