Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Director Laura O’shaughnessy Buys 73 Shares of Stock

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Director Laura O’shaughnessy acquired 73 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $302.32 per share, with a total value of $22,069.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,184 shares in the company, valued at $962,586.88. This trade represents a 2.35% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Acuity Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AYI stock opened at $310.49 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $320.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.28. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.04 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The company has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 19.99 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 16th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Acuity by 8.8% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 42,944 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $16,175,000 after buying an additional 3,478 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its holdings in Acuity by 63.7% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 20,170 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $7,597,000 after buying an additional 7,846 shares in the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. increased its holdings in Acuity by 176.5% in the first quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 44,803 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $12,555,000 after buying an additional 28,600 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,450,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Acuity by 1,834.0% in the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 21,235 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,950,000 after purchasing an additional 20,137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AYI shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Acuity from $360.00 to $348.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. William Blair downgraded shares of Acuity from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Acuity from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $374.20.

About Acuity

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.