Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on AYI. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Acuity Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $295.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, June 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.00.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Acuity Brands stock opened at $243.46 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Acuity Brands has a twelve month low of $155.34 and a twelve month high of $272.74. The stock has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s fifty day moving average is $253.88 and its 200 day moving average is $245.42.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The electronics maker reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.33. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The company had revenue of $968.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $996.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. Acuity Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Acuity Brands will post 14.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity Brands news, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,782. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 1,435 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 5,938 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,903 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 349 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by 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.