Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Price Target Raised to $360.00 at Robert W. Baird

Key Points

• Robert W. Baird has raised the price target for Acuity (NYSE:AYI) from $335.00 to $360.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating for the stock, which indicates a potential upside of 7.38% based on its previous close.
• Other analysts including Wells Fargo upgraded Acuity's stock rating from "equal weight" to "overweight," with a price target increase to $380.00, while Morgan Stanley also raised their target to $365.00.
• Acuity reported strong quarterly earnings with $5.12 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 21.7% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $335.00 to $360.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the electronics maker's stock. Robert W. Baird's target price indicates a potential upside of 7.38% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $320.00 to $380.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $357.60.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of AYI traded down $5.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $335.25. 105,309 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 328,301. The company has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $284.39. Acuity has a 52-week low of $216.81 and a 52-week high of $349.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. The trade was a 38.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 18,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,628,243.84. This trade represents a 24.30% 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 63.0% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,221 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter worth $8,601,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 7,245 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $2,116,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 192.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,615 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,640,000 after purchasing an additional 3,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Acuity by 29,415.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227,271 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $59,852,000 after buying an additional 226,501 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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