Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Oppenheimer Analyst Says

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) had its price target upped by research analysts at Oppenheimer from $370.00 to $380.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the electronics maker’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price points to a potential upside of 24.51% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Acuity Brands in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $304.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Acuity Brands from $320.00 to $336.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $328.20.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $305.19 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $315.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $280.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. Acuity Brands has a 1 year low of $217.64 and a 1 year high of $337.99.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The business had revenue of $951.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $955.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.72 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Acuity Brands will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 517.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands 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.