Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI – Get Free Report)’s stock price was down 3.8% on Tuesday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $286.00 to $280.00. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Acuity Brands traded as low as $248.99 and last traded at $249.28. Approximately 115,182 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 251,040 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.23.
Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.75.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at $5,320,062.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Acuity Brands news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total value of $2,031,048.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at $5,320,062.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,782. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands
Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,686,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 41.5% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 844,969 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $143,907,000 after acquiring an additional 247,774 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 17.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,103,793 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $187,987,000 after acquiring an additional 161,818 shares during the period. Vision One Management Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,901,000. Finally, Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $17,321,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.
Acuity Brands Stock Down 3.5 %
The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $256.42 and its 200 day moving average is $241.82.
Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.23. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 21.22%. The business had revenue of $905.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.01 million. Analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 EPS for the current year.
Acuity Brands Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.02%.
Acuity Brands 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.