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

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) – Analysts at William Blair dropped their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for shares of Acuity Brands in a report released on Thursday, June 27th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now expects that the electronics maker will post earnings of $3.87 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $4.09. 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 $3.73 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $14.14 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $3.69 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.43 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $4.30 EPS.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two research 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.75.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE AYI opened at $242.56 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.80. Acuity Brands has a 12 month low of $154.72 and a 12 month high of $272.74. The company has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.44.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.23. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 21.22%. The business had revenue of $905.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $897.01 million.

Institutional Trading of Acuity Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,699,000. EULAV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $9,943,000. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $376,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Acuity Brands by 291.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,521 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after acquiring an additional 4,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,706,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Acuity Brands

In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the business’s 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $248.91 per share, with a total value of $49,782.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,782. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, 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 Dividend Announcement

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

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.