William Blair Issues Optimistic Estimate for Acuity Earnings

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) - Analysts at William Blair increased their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Acuity in a report released on Tuesday, June 24th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now anticipates that the electronics maker will earn $4.21 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $4.19. The consensus estimate for Acuity's current full-year earnings is $15.86 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Acuity's Q4 2026 earnings at $4.69 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $17.59 EPS.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $315.00 price target on shares of Acuity and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Acuity from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on shares of Acuity in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $323.60.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI stock traded up $16.90 on Wednesday, reaching $304.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 951,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 306,705. 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 has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $345.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $260.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $282.93. The company has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.60.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The electronics maker reported $5.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 10.53%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.15 earnings per share.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Acuity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.16%.

Institutional Trading of Acuity

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AYI. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Acuity by 13.5% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 58,849 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $15,498,000 after purchasing an additional 6,986 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Acuity in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,609,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Acuity by 12.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 542,715 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $142,907,000 after acquiring an additional 60,784 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,533 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $7,514,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 103.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 312,904 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $82,403,000 after purchasing an additional 158,741 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.