Robert W. Baird Cuts Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Price Target to $315.00

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) had its target price lowered by Robert W. Baird from $320.00 to $315.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on AYI. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Friday, March 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.17.

Acuity Trading Up 4.7%

NYSE:AYI opened at $282.56 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $290.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $331.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.07. Acuity has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 20.74% and a net margin of 9.37%.Acuity’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.87%.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total transaction of $1,538,110.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,655,557.29. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Acuity

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 121.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 9,312 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,207,000 after purchasing an additional 5,105 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 98.4% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 571,017 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $196,653,000 after purchasing an additional 283,203 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 99,560 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $34,287,000 after purchasing an additional 6,452 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 96,784 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $33,332,000 after purchasing an additional 7,973 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth about $119,587,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

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.