Brokerages Set Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) PT at $317.60

Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $317.60.

Several brokerages have issued reports on AYI. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 911 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Acuity Brands by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,142 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Acuity Brands by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Acuity Brands by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 951 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. increased its position in Acuity Brands by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 1,896 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $256.60 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $252.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.07. The firm has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. Acuity Brands has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $345.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Acuity Brands will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.16%.

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.