Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on AYI. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

AYI stock traded up $0.83 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $303.16. 72,595 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 262,310. Acuity Brands has a 1 year low of $200.27 and a 1 year high of $337.99. The company has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $315.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $275.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.16.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Acuity Brands will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Acuity Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 517.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 229.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 244 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.