Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $317.60.

AYI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price target on Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:AYI traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $264.86. The stock had a trading volume of 11,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 300,705. Acuity Brands has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $345.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm's fifty day moving average is $250.67 and its 200 day moving average is $288.15. The stock has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.06. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.38 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Acuity Brands will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 525.0% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 54 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.