Brokerages Set Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Target Price at $395.17

by · The Markets Daily

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYIGet Free Report) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $389.3333.

AYI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Monday, December 29th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Acuity

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total value of $1,538,110.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $676,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263,925 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 9.1% in the third quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,363,619 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $469,617,000 after purchasing an additional 113,720 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 6.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 840,508 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $250,759,000 after purchasing an additional 50,491 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 2.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 815,050 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $280,695,000 after acquiring an additional 17,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Acuity by 6,496.7% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 692,189 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $249,216,000 after purchasing an additional 681,696 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of AYI stock opened at $281.60 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Acuity has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $322.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $341.50. The stock has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.50.

Acuity (NYSE:AYIGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. Acuity’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Acuity will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Acuity’s payout ratio is presently 6.15%.

About Acuity

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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.

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