Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Price Target Lowered to $295.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) had its target price reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $342.00 to $295.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.17.

Acuity Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $268.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Acuity has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $380.17. The company has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $292.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $332.33.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 9.37%.The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. Acuity’s payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total value of $1,538,110.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Acuity

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in Acuity in the 4th quarter worth approximately $358,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Acuity by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,215 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,479,000 after acquiring an additional 3,082 shares during the period. AG Campbell Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity in the 4th quarter worth approximately $799,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its stake in Acuity by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 4,752 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,714,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at $283,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.