Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. 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 traded.

The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.15 earnings per share.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio is 5.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 525.0% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $263.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $282.14. 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 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.