Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Given New $356.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) had its target price lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $312.00 to $356.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

AYI has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $395.17.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $356.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $327.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.76. Acuity has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $375.67.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in Acuity by 50,220.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $676,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263,925 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth $119,587,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth $115,595,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Acuity by 64.0% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 574,975 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $171,580,000 after purchasing an additional 224,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Acuity by 103.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 312,904 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $82,403,000 after purchasing an additional 158,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

About Acuity

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.