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

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $395.1667.

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd.

Acuity Price Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $362.45 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $344.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $301.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.93, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $375.67.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.01, for a total value of $1,724,862.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,880,665.45. This trade represents a 30.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Acuity during the third quarter worth $248,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Acuity by 122.2% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. increased its position in Acuity by 6.9% in the third quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 99,560 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $34,287,000 after purchasing an additional 6,452 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the 3rd quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Acuity by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 50,677 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $17,408,000 after buying an additional 2,259 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.