Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.20

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Friday, October 16th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share by the electronics maker on Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 16th.

Acuity has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Acuity has a payout ratio of 4.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Acuity to earn $20.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 3.9%.

Acuity Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $312.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 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. Acuity has a 52-week low of $257.04 and a 52-week high of $380.17. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $333.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $310.16.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.12 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Acuity will post 18.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $5,750,880.14. This represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Acuity during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Acuity in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 110.2% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 103 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

About Acuity

Acuity, formerly known as Acuity Brands, Inc, is an industrial technology company that develops products and systems for lighting, building management and connected spaces. Its offerings are designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential applications, helping customers manage illumination, energy use, occupancy and other aspects of the built environment.

The company’s lighting portfolio includes indoor and outdoor fixtures, lighting controls, and related components.