Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Stock Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $374.20.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AYI. William Blair downgraded Acuity from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Acuity from $440.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Acuity from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Neil Ashe sold 22,060 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.33, for a total transaction of $7,000,299.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 86,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 2,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total transaction of $659,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 17,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,750,880.14. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 36,047 shares of company stock valued at $11,537,354 over the last ninety days. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Acuity by 8.8% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 42,944 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $16,175,000 after acquiring an additional 3,478 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its position in shares of Acuity by 63.7% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 20,170 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,597,000 after purchasing an additional 7,846 shares during the period. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 176.5% during the first quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 44,803 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $12,555,000 after purchasing an additional 28,600 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth approximately $1,450,000. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth $9,736,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $323.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $313.78 and a 200-day moving average of $310.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. Acuity has a fifty-two week low of $257.04 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Acuity will post 20.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 16th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 16th. Acuity’s payout ratio is currently 4.68%.

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.