Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity (NYSE:AYI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on AYI. Weiss Ratings raised Acuity from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on Acuity in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.17.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $326.42 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $343.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $308.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Acuity has a twelve month low of $257.04 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The company has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.29.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Acuity will post 18.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.31%.

Institutional Trading of Acuity

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.