William Blair Has Positive Outlook of Acuity FY2025 Earnings

Key Points

• William Blair has raised its FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimate for Acuity to $16.54, up from the previous estimate of $16.16, exceeding the current consensus estimate of $15.86.
• Acuity reported quarterly earnings of $5.12 per share, surpassing analyst expectations by $0.68, and achieved a revenue of $1.18 billion, which was also above forecasts.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded their ratings and target prices for Acuity, with Morgan Stanley raising its target from $335.00 to $365.00, and Wells Fargo increasing it from $320.00 to $380.00.

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) - Equities researchers at William Blair upped their FY2025 EPS estimates for Acuity in a report issued on Friday, September 26th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now anticipates that the electronics maker will post earnings per share of $16.54 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $16.16. The consensus estimate for Acuity's current full-year earnings is $15.86 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Acuity's Q2 2026 earnings at $4.18 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $18.17 EPS.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 9.63%.The business's revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.15 earnings per share.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Acuity from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $357.60.

Acuity Stock Performance

Acuity stock opened at $339.00 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $323.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.68. Acuity has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $349.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Institutional Trading of Acuity

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Acuity by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 565 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 2.4% during the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,935 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 5.4% in the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 955 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.30, for a total transaction of $1,230,487.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,115.40. This trade represents a 38.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.80% 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.

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