Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) PT Raised to $286.00

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $236.00 to $286.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the electronics maker’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 6.88% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AYI. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $200.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.00.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $267.59 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $247.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $205.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.89, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Acuity Brands has a 52 week low of $149.30 and a 52 week high of $270.95.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 9th. The electronics maker reported $3.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.49. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 21.43% and a net margin of 9.56%. The firm had revenue of $934.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $935.14 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands will post 13.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 1,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.01, for a total value of $429,419.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,611 shares in the company, valued at $1,946,172.11. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 1,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.01, for a total value of $429,419.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,946,172.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Dianne S. Mills sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.11, for a total value of $1,350,660.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,925,590.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Aurora Investment Counsel increased its position in Acuity Brands by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 5,938 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,011,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Acuity Brands by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,903 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.3% during the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 1,854 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Company Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch.