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

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 17,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,750,880.14. This represents a 10.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Acuity Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:AYI opened at $329.04 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a 52-week low of $257.04 and a 52-week high of $380.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $343.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $308.69. The company 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 issued 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. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Acuity

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 8,338.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Acuity by 17.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $20,158,000 after purchasing an additional 11,144 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Acuity by 372.7% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 208 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Acuity by 1.8% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Acuity during the second quarter worth about $762,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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 target price on Acuity in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.17.

About Acuity

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.