Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on AYI. 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, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $303.16 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $315.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.94. Acuity Brands has a twelve month low of $200.27 and a twelve month high of $337.99.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.90 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. Acuity Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Acuity Brands will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $1,561,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 36,377 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $8,783,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 209.9% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,995 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,896,000 after purchasing an additional 8,124 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 2.8% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,541 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 16,639 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $4,018,000 after buying an additional 4,394 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,588,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.