Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys New Holdings in Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 13,477 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,062,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Acuity in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $335.44 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.04 and a 1-year high of $380.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $342.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $308.53. The company has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.29. 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 (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.12 earnings per share. Acuity’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders 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 of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on AYI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on Acuity in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.