Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $397.1667.

AYI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,019,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Acuity by 499.6% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 164,275 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $59,145,000 after purchasing an additional 136,879 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Acuity by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 308,665 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $111,132,000 after purchasing an additional 83,936 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in Acuity by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 92,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $33,172,000 after purchasing an additional 21,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new stake in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth $22,572,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $356.80 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $328.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $304.64. The company has a market capitalization of $10.68 billion, a PE ratio of 23.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.29. Acuity has a 1 year low of $257.04 and a 1 year high of $380.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.12 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Acuity will post 18.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.31%.

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.