Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The electronics maker reported $5.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68, RTT News reports. Acuity had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 10.53%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI stock traded up $19.74 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $307.23. 362,935 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 305,359. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Acuity has a 52-week low of $216.81 and a 52-week high of $345.30. The stock has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.60. The stock's 50-day moving average is $260.21 and its 200 day moving average is $282.93.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Acuity stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 8,338.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,097 shares of the electronics maker's stock after buying an additional 1,084 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Acuity were worth $289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Acuity and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Acuity from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $323.60.

About Acuity

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.