StockNews.com Downgrades Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) to Buy

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Acuity Brands from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.75.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Acuity Brands stock opened at $242.56 on Wednesday. Acuity Brands has a one year low of $154.72 and a one year high of $272.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $254.57 and its 200 day moving average is $243.80. The firm has a market cap of $7.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.44.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.23. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 9.81%. The company had revenue of $905.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.01 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands will post 14.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

In related news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $248.91 per share, with a total value of $49,782.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,782. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $248.91 per share, with a total value of $49,782.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,782. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total value of $2,031,048.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,320,062.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Acuity Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AYI. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% during 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. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 5,666.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 85.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Company Profile

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.