Equities Analysts Offer Predictions for Acuity Brands, Inc.’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NYSE:AYI)

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) – Equities research analysts at William Blair decreased their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for Acuity Brands in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, June 25th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now expects that the electronics maker will post earnings per share of $4.09 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $4.50. The consensus estimate for Acuity Brands’ current full-year earnings is $14.31 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Acuity Brands’ Q4 2024 earnings at $4.02 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $14.71 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $17.07 EPS.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.23. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 9.81%. The company had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.01 million.

AYI has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Acuity Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $295.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $279.00.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of AYI stock opened at $241.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $254.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $244.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Acuity Brands has a 12-month low of $154.72 and a 12-month high of $272.74.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 1,435 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 5,938 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,903 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 349 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Acuity Brands

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,320,062.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Acuity Brands news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,320,062.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,782. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 18th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

Acuity Brands 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.