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

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

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on AYI. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE AYI opened at $301.60 on Thursday. Acuity Brands has a 52 week low of $201.88 and a 52 week high of $337.99. The stock has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $314.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $278.38.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Acuity Brands will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Acuity Brands

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 517.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 229.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 244 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

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.