Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Price Target Cut to $320.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) had its price objective cut by Robert W. Baird from $375.00 to $320.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on AYI. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.17.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $285.32 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $299.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $336.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Acuity has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.24. Acuity had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. Acuity’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Acuity will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Acuity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is 6.15%.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total transaction of $1,538,110.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at $6,655,557.29. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 8,338.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Acuity by 17.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 76,543 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $20,158,000 after acquiring an additional 11,144 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Acuity by 22.0% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,772 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Acuity by 3.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,721 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Acuity by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 5,700 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.