Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Price Target to $370.00

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $385.00 to $370.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the electronics maker’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 34.21% from the stock’s previous close.

AYI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $375.00 price objective on Acuity in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $389.33.

Acuity Trading Down 6.7%

Shares of AYI stock traded down $19.95 on Tuesday, hitting $275.70. The stock had a trading volume of 71,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 443,962. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Acuity has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $327.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $342.61. The firm has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.50.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 9.04%.The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.97 EPS. Acuity’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Acuity will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total value of $1,538,110.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in Acuity during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Acuity in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity by 1,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Company Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc (NYSE: AYI) is a leading provider of lighting fixtures, controls and building management solutions designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential markets. The company’s core offerings include a broad range of LED luminaires, lighting controls, sensors and networked building systems that enhance energy efficiency, occupant comfort and operational productivity. Acuity Brands’ portfolio spans indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, emergency lighting, task lighting and architectural products, as well as advanced controls such as daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing and wireless sensor networks.

Beyond traditional lighting, Acuity Brands delivers integrated digital solutions through its Connected Building platform, which combines smart sensors, cloud-based analytics and mobile applications to enable real-time monitoring and remote management of lighting and environmental systems.