Brokerages Set Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) PT at $323.60

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $340.60.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th.

Acuity Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:AYI opened at $305.99 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $267.54 and a 200 day moving average of $282.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Acuity has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $345.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.62.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total value of $1,806,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity by 525.0% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Acuity by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity 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.