Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $397.1667.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AYI. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on Acuity in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st.

Acuity Trading Down 0.1%

AYI opened at $332.78 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.27. 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 has a 12 month low of $257.04 and a 12 month high of $380.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $310.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $306.79.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Acuity will post 18.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s payout ratio is presently 5.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $288.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,766.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,532. This represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 50,220.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $676,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263,925 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 6,496.7% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 692,189 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $249,216,000 after buying an additional 681,696 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $138,747,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 98.4% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Palestra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Acuity during the third quarter worth $91,539,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Company Profile

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.