Insider Selling: Acuity (NYSE:AYI) CFO Sells $659,240.00 in Stock

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

Acuity Trading Up 1.7%

AYI opened at $334.12 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.04 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company’s 50-day moving average is $342.84 and its 200 day moving average is $308.87.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is 5.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Acuity in the second quarter worth $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth $30,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently has a consensus 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.