Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $275.39, but opened at $290.02. Acuity Brands shares last traded at $293.56, with a volume of 43,149 shares trading hands.

The electronics maker reported $4.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 10.12%. Acuity Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.74 EPS.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AYI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $324.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,332,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 81.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,234 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,988,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,764 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $387,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $430,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $250.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.78. The firm has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

About Acuity Brands

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.