Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) CFO Sells $1,806,240.00 in Stock

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total value of $1,806,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,628,243.84. The trade was a 24.30% 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 link.

Acuity Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:AYI opened at $305.99 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $282.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.99. Acuity, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.62.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. Acuity’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. Acuity’s payout ratio is 5.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AYI. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $340.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 525.0% in the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Acuity by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Acuity by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Acuity

Acuity Brands, Inc provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch.