Insider Buying: Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Director Acquires $282,980.00 in Stock

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Director Laura O’shaughnessy purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $282.98 per share, for a total transaction of $282,980.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 3,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,350.78. This represents a 47.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Acuity Price Performance

Acuity stock opened at $278.36 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $289.59 and its 200 day moving average is $330.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Acuity, Inc. has a 52-week low of $225.71 and a 52-week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Acuity’s revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AYI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Acuity from $342.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Acuity from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Acuity by 121.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 9,312 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,207,000 after buying an additional 5,105 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Acuity by 98.4% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 571,017 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $196,653,000 after buying an additional 283,203 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. increased its stake in Acuity by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 99,560 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $34,287,000 after buying an additional 6,452 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Acuity by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 96,784 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $33,332,000 after buying an additional 7,973 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth about $119,587,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

About Acuity

Acuity Brands, Inc (NYSE: AYI) is a leading provider of lighting fixtures, controls and building management solutions designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential markets. The company’s core offerings include a broad range of LED luminaires, lighting controls, sensors and networked building systems that enhance energy efficiency, occupant comfort and operational productivity. Acuity Brands’ portfolio spans indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, emergency lighting, task lighting and architectural products, as well as advanced controls such as daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing and wireless sensor networks.

Beyond traditional lighting, Acuity Brands delivers integrated digital solutions through its Connected Building platform, which combines smart sensors, cloud-based analytics and mobile applications to enable real-time monitoring and remote management of lighting and environmental systems.