Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Robert W. Baird Analyst Says

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $315.00 to $335.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the electronics maker's stock. Robert W. Baird's price target indicates a potential upside of 12.60% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AYI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on Acuity in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $334.60.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI traded down $6.68 on Friday, reaching $297.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 49,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,797. Acuity has a 52-week low of $216.81 and a 52-week high of $345.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.60. The stock's 50-day moving average is $261.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $282.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Acuity will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Acuity

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Acuity by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 60,500 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $17,674,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Acuity by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,187 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Acuity by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,625 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $11,284,000 after purchasing an additional 11,583 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 1,470.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 314 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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