Acuity, Inc. $AYI Stock Bought by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its holdings in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 191.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,472 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,282 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Acuity were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AYI. Choreo LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity during the third quarter worth approximately $293,000. Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the third quarter valued at approximately $240,000. BOKF NA raised its position in shares of Acuity by 2.9% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 11,405 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,533,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 12.9% in the third quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 1,599 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Hedeker Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 1.6% in the third quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 20,229 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,267,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In related news, CEO Neil Ashe sold 22,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.33, for a total value of $7,000,299.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,373,520.46. This trade represents a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 3,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.48, for a total value of $1,221,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,580 shares in the company, valued at $2,115,338.40. This trade represents a 36.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,047 shares of company stock valued at $11,537,354. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $323.44 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $313.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $310.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.04 and a 1 year high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.57 by $0.20. Acuity had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 20.30%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 20.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 16th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 16th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s payout ratio is 4.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Acuity from $360.00 to $348.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. William Blair cut Acuity from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Acuity from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Acuity from $440.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Acuity has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $374.20.

About Acuity

Acuity (NYSE: AYI) designs, manufactures and sells lighting and building-management solutions. Its offerings include indoor and outdoor luminaires, lighting controls, building automation systems and related software for commercial, industrial, institutional and residential settings.

The company sells products under a portfolio of brands, including Lithonia Lighting, Juno, Peerless, Gotham and Distech Controls. Its solutions help customers manage lighting, building systems and energy use across a range of facilities.

Founded in 2001 as a spin-off from National Service Industries, Acuity is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and serves customers in North America and selected international markets.