Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $301.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $314.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.38. Acuity Brands has a 1-year low of $201.88 and a 1-year high of $337.99.

Insider Activity at Acuity Brands

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This represents a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 8.0% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,846 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,965,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $3,849,000. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 6,477 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at $484,000. Finally, McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 15.0% during the third quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 21,285 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,862,000 after purchasing an additional 2,773 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

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.