Wall Street Zen Upgrades Acuity (NYSE:AYI) to “Buy”

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 target price on Acuity in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Acuity has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.17.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE:AYI opened at $332.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $343.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $308.38. Acuity has a fifty-two week low of $257.04 and a fifty-two week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.12 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Acuity will post 18.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Acuity by 35,316.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,575,171 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $4,736,564,000 after purchasing an additional 12,539,664 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth about $1,121,983,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 50,220.2% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $676,764,000 after buying an additional 2,263,925 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 9.1% during the third quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,363,619 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $469,617,000 after buying an additional 113,720 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Acuity by 8.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 635,160 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $177,970,000 after acquiring an additional 47,880 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Acuity

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.