Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Acuity has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from nine analysts, with five buys and four holds. The average 12-month price target is approximately $397.17, above the stock’s reported $338.31 price.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of Acuity’s shares, with several large investors recently increasing stakes or initiating new positions.
• Acuity exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.31 in EPS versus the $5.17 consensus and $1.20 billion in revenue versus $1.18 billion expected. Revenue increased 1.6% year over year, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $397.1667.

Several research firms have recently commented on AYI. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Acuity by 50,220.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,268,433 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $676,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263,925 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 6,496.7% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 692,189 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $249,216,000 after buying an additional 681,696 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $138,747,000. Palestra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $91,539,000. Finally, Alua Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $63,377,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $338.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.27. Acuity has a 52-week low of $257.04 and a 52-week high of $380.17. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $323.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $303.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 10.25%.The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.12 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Acuity will post 18.44 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. Acuity's payout ratio is 5.31%.

About Acuity

Acuity Brands, Inc NYSE: AYI is a leading provider of lighting fixtures, controls and building management solutions designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential markets. The company's core offerings include a broad range of LED luminaires, lighting controls, sensors and networked building systems that enhance energy efficiency, occupant comfort and operational productivity. Acuity Brands' portfolio spans indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, emergency lighting, task lighting and architectural products, as well as advanced controls such as daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing and wireless sensor networks.

Beyond traditional lighting, Acuity Brands delivers integrated digital solutions through its Connected Building platform, which combines smart sensors, cloud-based analytics and mobile applications to enable real-time monitoring and remote management of lighting and environmental systems.

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