Insider Selling: Acuity (NYSE:AYI) CEO Sells 8,187 Shares of Company Stock

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) CEO Neil Ashe sold 8,187 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.44, for a total value of $2,656,190.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,330,653. This trade represents a 9.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Neil Ashe also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, October 28th, Neil Ashe sold 22,060 shares of Acuity stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.33, for a total value of $7,000,299.80.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock traded down $9.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $317.77. 301,360 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 393,297. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $315.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $309.90. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.04 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.57 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 20.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 20.04 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 16th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 16th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AYI. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Acuity from $360.00 to $348.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. William Blair downgraded Acuity from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Acuity from $440.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Acuity presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $374.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth $1,121,983,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Acuity by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 635,160 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $177,970,000 after acquiring an additional 47,880 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at $106,018,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 378,006 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $105,925,000 after acquiring an additional 92,094 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at $77,212,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Company Profile

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.