Barry R. Goldman Sells 4,125 Shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Stock

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Acuity Price Performance

AYI traded down $0.85 on Friday, hitting $305.17. 167,949 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 307,178. 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 cap of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $268.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $282.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.15 earnings per share. Acuity's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in Acuity by 525.0% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 520.0% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 248 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AYI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 target price on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.60.

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.