Robert W. Baird Cuts Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Price Target to $320.00

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

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

Acuity Price Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $270.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $8.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $297.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $335.10. Acuity has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $380.17.

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

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. Acuity’s payout ratio is 6.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,974 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 at this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in Acuity in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Acuity during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 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.