Deutsche Bank AG Takes Position in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 87,845 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $33,088,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AYI. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Acuity by 8,338.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 17.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $20,158,000 after acquiring an additional 11,144 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 372.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 208 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 1.8% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $762,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on AYI shares. 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. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.17.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $343.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $339.88 and a 200 day moving average of $307.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.04 and a twelve month high of $380.17.

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

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. 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.