Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $287.49, but opened at $308.46. Acuity shares last traded at $300.95, with a volume of 128,182 shares trading hands.

The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.81. Acuity had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 10.53%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,935 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its stake in Acuity by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 1,896 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in Acuity by 3.2% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 790 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 0.3% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 15,389 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $4,053,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Stock Up 5.1%

The company has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The business's 50 day moving average price is $260.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $282.93.

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.

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