Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al cut its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,900 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 6,560 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Acuity were worth $3,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Acuity during the second quarter worth approximately $1,121,983,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at $106,018,000. Alua Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the 1st quarter valued at $63,377,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at $77,212,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Acuity by 87.9% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 213,801 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $59,911,000 after purchasing an additional 100,036 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Acuity from $360.00 to $348.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Acuity from $440.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Acuity from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $374.20.

Acuity Stock Up 3.5%

Acuity stock opened at $329.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $314.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $309.93. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.04 and a twelve month high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued 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 net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 20.30%. The company 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 for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Acuity, Inc. will post 20.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 16th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 16th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.68%.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 3,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.48, for a total value of $1,221,624.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,580 shares in the company, valued at $2,115,338.40. The trade was a 36.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Neil Ashe sold 8,187 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.44, for a total value of $2,656,190.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,330,653. The trade was a 9.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,047 shares of company stock valued at $11,537,354. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Acuity 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.