Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Stock Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $374.20.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Acuity from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, William Blair lowered Acuity from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total transaction of $659,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,750,880.14. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AYI. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,379 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,455,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 56.3% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 125,593 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $38,910,000 after buying an additional 45,244 shares in the last quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC now owns 704 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 3rd quarter worth about $248,000. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Acuity by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 73,947 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $22,910,000 after acquiring an additional 13,145 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $310.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $320.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.28. Acuity has a 1 year low of $257.04 and a 1 year high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.57 by $0.20. Acuity had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 20.30%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.20 EPS. Acuity’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Acuity will post 19.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 16th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 16th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.68%.

Acuity Company Profile

Acuity (NYSE: AYI), formerly known as Acuity Brands, is a technology company focused on improving how people experience and manage indoor and outdoor spaces. Its businesses develop lighting, lighting controls, building-management systems and related solutions for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential applications.

The company’s offerings include LED lighting fixtures, connected lighting systems, sensors, controls, building automation technologies and location-aware software.