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 research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

AYI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AYI opened at $301.60 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $314.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $278.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. Acuity Brands has a 12-month low of $201.88 and a 12-month high of $337.99.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This represents a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 517.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in Acuity Brands by 229.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 244 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

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.