Robert W. Baird Reiterates $315.00 Price Target for Acuity (NYSE:AYI)

Robert W. Baird set a $315.00 price target on Acuity (NYSE:AYI) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AYI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Acuity from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on Acuity in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.60.

Acuity Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $273.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Acuity has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $345.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $257.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $283.79. The stock has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.60.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. Acuity had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 10.53%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Acuity will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AYI. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 158.9% during the fourth quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,088,477 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $317,977,000 after buying an additional 668,048 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $110,236,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 29,415.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227,271 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $59,852,000 after buying an additional 226,501 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 103.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 312,904 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $82,403,000 after buying an additional 158,741 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Acuity by 34.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 613,217 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $157,910,000 after acquiring an additional 157,790 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity 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.