William Blair Research Analysts Cut Earnings Estimates for Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) – Stock analysts at William Blair cut their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for Acuity Brands in a report released on Tuesday, June 25th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now anticipates that the electronics maker will earn $4.09 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $4.50. The consensus estimate for Acuity Brands’ current full-year earnings is $14.48 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Acuity Brands’ Q4 2024 earnings at $4.02 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $14.71 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $17.07 EPS.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.23. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 21.22%. The firm had revenue of $905.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.01 million.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.75.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 1.2 %

AYI opened at $242.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Acuity Brands has a fifty-two week low of $154.72 and a fifty-two week high of $272.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $254.57 and its 200 day moving average is $243.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AYI. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Acuity Brands by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,149,459 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $235,444,000 after buying an additional 45,666 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 820,077 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $139,667,000 after purchasing an additional 89,192 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 625,077 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $128,035,000 after purchasing an additional 36,488 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 549,297 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $93,551,000 after purchasing an additional 71,201 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $68,686,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of Acuity Brands 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,782. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of Acuity Brands 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,782. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the transaction, 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. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 18th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 18th. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is 5.02%.

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.