Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Stock: Insider Neil Ashe Sells 22,060 Shares

Key Points

• CEO Neil Ashe sold 22,060 Acuity shares for approximately $7.0 million at an average price of $317.33, reducing his position by 20.37%; the sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• Acuity shares fell 2.9% to $317.77, while the company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations with adjusted EPS of $5.77 versus the $5.57 consensus and revenue of $1.24 billion.
• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating, with an average price target of $374.20; institutional investors own 98.21% of the stock, and Acuity declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) CEO Neil Ashe sold 22,060 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.33, for a total transaction of $7,000,299.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,373,520.46. This trade represents a 20.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Thursday, October 29th, Neil Ashe sold 8,187 shares of Acuity stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.44, for a total transaction of $2,656,190.28.

Acuity Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of Acuity stock traded down $9.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $317.77. The stock had a trading volume of 301,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,297. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.04 and a 1 year high of $380.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $315.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $309.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.30.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.57 by $0.20. Acuity had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 20.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.20 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 20.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 16th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 16th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is currently 4.68%.

Institutional Trading of Acuity

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth about $1,121,983,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 8.2% in the first 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 acquired a new position in Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at $106,018,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Acuity by 32.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 378,006 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $105,925,000 after purchasing an additional 92,094 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $77,212,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AYI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. William Blair cut Acuity from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Acuity from $360.00 to $348.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, 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 research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Acuity has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $374.20.

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.

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