Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Price Target Cut to $315.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) had its price objective trimmed by Robert W. Baird from $320.00 to $315.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AYI. Wall Street Zen cut Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.17.

Acuity Stock Up 1.0%

Acuity stock opened at $268.15 on Monday. Acuity has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $292.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $332.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm 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.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.24. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 9.37%.The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Acuity will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.23, for a total transaction of $1,538,110.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,655,557.29. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $358,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,215 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,479,000 after purchasing an additional 3,082 shares during the last quarter. AG Campbell Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $799,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 4,752 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,714,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $283,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Company Profile

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.