Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Price Target Raised to $285.00

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $275.00 to $285.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the electronics maker's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective indicates a potential upside of 5.14% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on AYI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on shares of Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $319.60.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of AYI stock traded up $2.65 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $271.08. 10,971 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,812. The firm has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $254.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $284.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Acuity Brands has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30.

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

Institutional Trading of Acuity Brands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in 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.

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