Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity (NYSE:AYI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on AYI. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Acuity from $342.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.17.

Acuity Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE AYI opened at $278.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $330.58. Acuity has a 12 month low of $225.71 and a 12 month high of $380.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 9.37%.The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.97 EPS. Acuity’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Acuity will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at $6,655,557.29. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura O’shaughnessy purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $282.98 per share, with a total value of $282,980.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,350.78. The trade was a 47.37% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Acuity

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AYI. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 8,338.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $20,158,000 after acquiring an additional 11,144 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 372.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 208 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at about $762,000. Institutional investors 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.