Acuity (NYSE:AYI) CEO Neil Ashe Sells 8,187 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• CEO Neil Ashe sold 8,187 Acuity shares at an average $324.44, generating approximately $2.66 million; the transaction occurred under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and reduced his ownership by 9.49%.
• Acuity shares fell 2.9% to $317.77, despite the company reporting quarterly EPS of $5.77, above analysts’ $5.57 estimate, with revenue up 2.9% year over year to $1.24 billion.
• Analysts hold a generally cautious view, with the stock carrying an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $374.20; Acuity also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) CEO Neil Ashe sold 8,187 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 78,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,330,653. The trade was a 9.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $317.33, for a total transaction of $7,000,299.80.

Acuity Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE:AYI traded down $9.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $317.77. The stock had a trading volume of 301,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,297. The company has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.30. Acuity, Inc. has a one year low of $257.04 and a one year 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 business's 50 day moving average is $315.45 and its 200-day moving average is $309.90.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.30% and a net margin of 11.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 20.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 16th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is 4.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Acuity from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Oppenheimer dropped 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, William Blair downgraded Acuity from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $374.20.

Institutional Trading of Acuity

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AYI. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Acuity during the second quarter worth $30,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Acuity during the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Acuity by 110.2% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 103 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.