Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Stock

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) had its price target increased by Oppenheimer from $370.00 to $380.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. William Blair raised Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Acuity Brands in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $304.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $328.20.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $305.19 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $315.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $280.89. The firm has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. Acuity Brands has a 12-month low of $217.64 and a 12-month high of $337.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The company had revenue of $951.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $955.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.72 earnings per share. Acuity Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Acuity Brands will post 15.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at $2,573,590. This represents a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AYI. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Acuity Brands by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Private Client Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $1,377,000. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,119 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,495,000 after buying an additional 2,323 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 49,449 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $14,602,000 after buying an additional 2,677 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.