Analysts Set Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) PT at $340.60

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $340.60.

AYI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.04, for a total transaction of $1,806,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total value of $1,230,487.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,980,115.40. This represents a 38.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 26,152 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $7,802,000 after buying an additional 1,909 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its position in shares of Acuity by 4.0% during the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 26,200 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $7,817,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 12.1% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,279 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $3,067,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $186,000. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Price Performance

AYI traded down $4.99 on Monday, reaching $297.52. The stock had a trading volume of 200,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,584. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.62. Acuity has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $281.61 and a 200-day moving average of $281.88.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.15 EPS. The business's revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. Acuity's payout ratio is currently 5.36%.

Acuity 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.