Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $339.34 and last traded at $337.10, with a volume of 9401 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $335.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised Acuity Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $304.00 to $370.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. William Blair upgraded Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $341.40.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a PE ratio of 24.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $315.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $285.67.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The business had revenue of $951.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $955.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a boost from Acuity Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.42%.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $3,849,000. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its position in Acuity Brands by 42.0% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 6,477 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $484,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth $813,000. Finally, McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in Acuity Brands by 15.0% in the third quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 21,285 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,862,000 after purchasing an additional 2,773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

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.