Q2 2024 EPS Estimates for Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Reduced by William Blair

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair dropped their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Acuity Brands in a note issued to investors on Monday, April 1st. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now forecasts that the electronics maker will post earnings of $2.97 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $3.04. The consensus estimate for Acuity Brands' current full-year earnings is $13.72 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Acuity Brands' FY2024 earnings at $14.33 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $15.70 EPS.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 9th. The electronics maker reported $3.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $934.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $935.14 million. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 21.43% and a net margin of 9.56%. Acuity Brands's revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share.

AYI has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Acuity Brands from $200.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.00.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

AYI stock traded down $3.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $261.81. The company had a trading volume of 467,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,491. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49. Acuity Brands has a 1-year low of $149.30 and a 1-year high of $270.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $250.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.90.

Institutional Trading of Acuity Brands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 5,666.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

In other news, SVP Dianne S. Mills sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.11, for a total transaction of $1,350,660.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,590.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 1,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.01, for a total value of $429,419.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,611 shares in the company, valued at $1,946,172.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Dianne S. Mills sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.11, for a total value of $1,350,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,590.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.13%.

About Acuity Brands

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.