Zacks Research Weighs in on Acuity Brands, Inc.’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NYSE:AYI)

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Acuity Brands in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, April 19th. Zacks Research analyst A. Ram now forecasts that the electronics maker will post earnings per share of $3.70 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $3.68. The consensus estimate for Acuity Brands’ current full-year earnings is $14.48 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Acuity Brands’ FY2024 earnings at $14.18 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $3.56 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.45 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.90 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $4.20 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $3.78 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.66 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $16.14 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on AYI. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.25.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $247.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.59. Acuity Brands has a fifty-two week low of $149.30 and a fifty-two week high of $272.74. The company has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.31.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other Acuity Brands news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the business’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 value of $2,031,048.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,320,062.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Aurora Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.8% in the third quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 5,938 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,903 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.3% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 1,854 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.