Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $341.40.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $320.00 to $336.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. William Blair raised Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Acuity Brands stock opened at $335.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.40. Acuity Brands has a 1-year low of $217.64 and a 1-year high of $345.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $316.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.05.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The business had revenue of $951.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $955.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.72 earnings per share. Acuity Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands will post 15.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.17 dividend. This is an increase from Acuity Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 517.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Hedge funds and other 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.