Acuity (NYSE:AYI) CFO Karen Holcom Sells 4,974 Shares

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) CFO Karen Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total value of $1,538,110.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,655,557.29. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $309.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.50. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $349.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $341.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Acuity, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. Acuity had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Acuity by 50,220.2% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $676,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263,925 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,363,619 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $469,617,000 after acquiring an additional 113,720 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 6.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 840,508 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $250,759,000 after acquiring an additional 50,491 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Acuity by 2.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 815,050 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $280,695,000 after purchasing an additional 17,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Acuity by 6,496.7% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 692,189 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $249,216,000 after purchasing an additional 681,696 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Zacks Research lowered Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Monday, December 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.17.

About Acuity

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.