Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $380.20 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Acuity has a consensus “Hold” rating from nine analysts, with five holds and four buys. The average 12-month price target is $380.20, above the reported share price of $301.27.
• The company exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $5.77 in EPS versus the $5.57 consensus, while revenue reached $1.24 billion and increased 2.9% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 98.21% of Acuity’s stock, while CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan. Acuity also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, equivalent to a 0.3% yield.

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $380.20.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair lowered shares of Acuity from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Acuity from $360.00 to $348.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Thursday, June 25th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total transaction of $659,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,447 shares in the company, valued at $5,750,880.14. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Acuity

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Acuity by 21.6% during the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 73,947 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $22,910,000 after purchasing an additional 13,145 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in Acuity by 16.8% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,124 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in Acuity in the 3rd quarter worth about $262,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Acuity by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Acuity by 137.9% in the 3rd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 245 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $301.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $325.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $313.29. The company has a market cap of $9.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Acuity has a 12 month low of $257.04 and a 12 month high of $380.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.57 by $0.20. Acuity had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 20.30%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Acuity will post 19.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 16th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Acuity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.68%.

About Acuity

Acuity NYSE: AYI is a technology company that provides lighting, lighting controls and building-management solutions for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential environments. Its products are designed to improve illumination, energy efficiency, automation and the overall performance of indoor and outdoor spaces.

The company offers a broad portfolio of lighting fixtures, controls, sensors and connected-building technologies. Its brands and product lines have included Lithonia Lighting, Holophane, Peerless, SensorSwitch, Distech Controls and Atrius.

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