Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $397.1667.

A number of brokerages recently commented on AYI. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 target price on Acuity in a report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In related news, Director Laura O’shaughnessy acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $282.98 per share, for a total transaction of $282,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,350.78. This represents a 47.37% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $288.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,532. This represents a 100.00% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Acuity by 98.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 571,017 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $196,653,000 after acquiring an additional 283,203 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,019,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Acuity during the third quarter valued at approximately $54,514,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 499.6% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 164,275 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $59,145,000 after purchasing an additional 136,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,762,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE AYI opened at $359.35 on Monday. Acuity has a 1 year low of $257.04 and a 1 year high of $380.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 23.83, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The business’s 50-day moving average is $305.36 and its 200 day moving average is $307.55.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.12 EPS. Acuity’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Acuity will post 18.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.31%.

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.