Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Lowered to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Acuity (NYSE:AYI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

AYI has been the subject of several other reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Acuity from $380.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.67.

Acuity Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $326.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $361.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $339.93. Acuity has a 52-week low of $216.81 and a 52-week high of $380.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. Acuity had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Acuity will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Acuity

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.01, for a total transaction of $1,724,862.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,880,665.45. The trade was a 30.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 25.6% during the third quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 152 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Acuity by 0.5% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 6,269 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Illumine Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 1.2% in the third quarter. Illumine Investment Management LLC now owns 2,872 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Acuity by 0.6% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,577 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Acuity by 1.8% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Acuity

Here are the key news stories impacting Acuity this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — Acuity reported adjusted EPS of $4.69 (beat) and delivered ~20% net sales growth and higher adjusted operating profit, which underscores healthy demand and margin expansion. Acuity Reports Fiscal 2026 First-Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management emphasized strategic financial moves and improved adjusted diluted EPS and margins on the earnings call, supporting the thesis of profitable growth. Acuity Inc (AYI) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue came in roughly in line with expectations (~$1.14B), so top-line performance supported the beat but did not materially surprise on upside. Acuity Brands’s Q4 CY2025 Earnings Results
• Neutral Sentiment: FY26 guidance was updated to EPS $19.00–$20.50 and revenue $4.7B–$4.9B — a range that brackets the Street but introduces some uncertainty around cadence and the midpoint. Investors are parsing the range rather than seeing a crisp upside revision. (Guidance referenced in company materials and call.) Earnings Slide Deck / Call
• Negative Sentiment: Management flagged a Q2 seasonality shift and backlog normalization — items that can temper near-term growth expectations and lead investors to re-evaluate the pace of revenue recovery. Acuity signals Q2 seasonality shift and highlights 20% net sales growth amid backlog normalization
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts trimmed near-term estimates (e.g., Zacks adjustments), and commentary that the guidance range is wider than ideal added selling pressure for traders focused on precision. Acuity (AYI) Q1 Earnings: How Key Metrics Compare to Wall Street Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market weakness (Nasdaq pullback) also weighed on sentiment for cyclical/tech-linked names like AYI, amplifying reactions to the mixed company-specific news. Nasdaq Falls Over 100 Points; Acuity Posts Upbeat Earnings

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.