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

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

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Acuity from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Acuity from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.17.

Acuity Trading Up 4.7%

NYSE:AYI opened at $282.56 on Monday. Acuity has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $380.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $290.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $331.51.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Acuity will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was 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 owned 21,523 shares in the company, valued at $6,655,557.29. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Acuity

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.