Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYIGet Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $287.49, but opened at $308.46. Acuity shares last traded at $300.95, with a volume of 128,182 shares traded.

The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 10.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Acuity’s payout ratio is currently 5.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on Acuity in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Acuity from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $315.00 price target on Acuity and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.60.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Acuity

Institutional Trading of Acuity

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 13.5% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 58,849 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $15,498,000 after buying an additional 6,986 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the 1st quarter valued at $1,609,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 542,715 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $142,907,000 after acquiring an additional 60,784 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Acuity by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,533 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,514,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Acuity by 103.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 312,904 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $82,403,000 after acquiring an additional 158,741 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Trading Up 5.9%

The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.82. The company has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.08, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.60.

About Acuity

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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.

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