Acuity (NYSE:AYI) CFO Karen Holcom Sells 2,000 Shares

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total value of $659,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 17,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,750,880.14. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI traded down $1.55 during trading on Thursday, reaching $329.04. The company had a trading volume of 255,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 206,035. 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $343.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $308.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s payout ratio is 5.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Acuity during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AYI. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of 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 objective on Acuity in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Acuity currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.17.

Acuity Company 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.