Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $395.1667.

AYI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Acuity from $380.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,489 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.11, for a total transaction of $1,638,978.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,211,106.16. The trade was a 42.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the third quarter worth $6,762,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 550 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 22,297 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $7,679,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Acuity by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,016 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Acuity during the 3rd quarter worth $54,514,000. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Price Performance

NYSE:AYI opened at $350.18 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $361.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $328.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.49. Acuity has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $379.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.84 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 20.81%. Acuity’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.30 EPS. Acuity has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.000-20.500 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Acuity will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is 5.43%.

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.