Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Receives $395.17 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $389.3333.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, December 30th.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $274.57 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $318.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $341.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.50. Acuity has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 9.04%.The company’s revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Acuity will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total value of $1,538,110.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at $6,655,557.29. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Acuity during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Acuity by 1,100.0% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

About Acuity

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.