Acuity (NYSE:AYI) SVP Sells $1,221,624.00 in Stock

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) SVP Barry Goldman sold 3,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,115,338.40. This represents a 36.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Acuity Stock Up 3.2%

AYI opened at $327.34 on Friday. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.04 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $315.45 and a 200-day moving average of $309.90.

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

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AYI. William Blair downgraded Acuity from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Acuity from $360.00 to $348.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 cut their price target on Acuity from $440.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Acuity has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $374.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AYI. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth $1,121,983,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth about $106,018,000. Alua Capital Management LP bought a new position in Acuity during the first quarter valued at about $63,377,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Acuity during the second quarter valued at about $77,212,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Acuity by 87.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 213,801 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $59,911,000 after acquiring an additional 100,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

About Acuity

Acuity (NYSE: AYI), formerly known as Acuity Brands, is a technology company focused on improving how people experience and manage indoor and outdoor spaces. Its businesses develop lighting, lighting controls, building-management systems and related solutions for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential applications.

The company’s offerings include LED lighting fixtures, connected lighting systems, sensors, controls, building automation technologies and location-aware software.