Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Acuity shares fell 3.7% after William Blair downgraded the stock from “outperform” to “market perform,” opening at $300.08 versus a prior close of $319.42.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: four analysts rate Acuity a Buy and five rate it a Hold, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $397.17.
• Acuity recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.31 in EPS and $1.20 billion in revenue, while declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Monday after William Blair downgraded the stock from an outperform rating to a market perform rating. The stock had previously closed at $319.42, but opened at $300.08. Acuity shares last traded at $307.5150, with a volume of 88,913 shares trading hands.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, August 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $397.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total value of $659,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 17,447 shares in the company, valued at $5,750,880.14. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Acuity

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

Acuity Trading Down 3.7%

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $332.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $310.47. The stock has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. Acuity's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.12 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 18.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 16th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 16th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.31%.

About Acuity

Acuity, formerly known as Acuity Brands, Inc, is an industrial technology company that develops products and systems for lighting, building management and connected spaces. Its offerings are designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential applications, helping customers manage illumination, energy use, occupancy and other aspects of the built environment.

The company's lighting portfolio includes indoor and outdoor fixtures, lighting controls, and related components.

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