Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Sold by Seizert Capital Partners LLC

Seizert Capital Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 280,049 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 322 shares during the quarter. Acuity makes up approximately 3.4% of Seizert Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Seizert Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.91% of Acuity worth $73,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the 1st quarter worth approximately $516,000. De Lisle Partners LLP raised its stake in Acuity by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 27,211 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $7,172,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Acuity by 56.1% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 20,561 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,415,000 after purchasing an additional 7,392 shares during the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Acuity by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 2,300 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in Acuity by 202.2% in the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 5,448 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $311.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $345.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.69.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company’s revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.15 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Acuity’s payout ratio is 5.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $340.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total transaction of $1,806,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total value of $1,230,487.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. The trade was a 38.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Acuity

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.