Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $375.89 and last traded at $372.7050, with a volume of 130399 shares. The stock had previously closed at $363.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut Acuity from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.17.

Acuity Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $357.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $321.32.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.84 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 9.13%.Acuity’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.30 EPS. Acuity has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.000-20.500 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s payout ratio is 5.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,489 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.11, for a total transaction of $1,638,978.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,211,106.16. This represents a 42.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Acuity by 1,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Acuity by 122.2% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Company Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch.