Wall Street Zen Upgrades Acuity (NYSE:AYI) to Strong-Buy

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.60.

Acuity Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of AYI traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $303.86. 702,992 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 306,590. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.71. Acuity has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $345.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.60.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. Acuity had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.15 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Acuity will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 525.0% during the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Acuity by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 45.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

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.