Analysts Set Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Target Price at $289.25

Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $289.25.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th.

Insider Activity at Acuity Brands

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total value of $2,031,048.80. Following the sale, 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 available at the SEC website. In other Acuity Brands news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $248.91 per share, with a total value of $49,782.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,782. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Acuity Brands by 5,666.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 85.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 900.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 1.6 %

Acuity Brands stock opened at $254.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $257.98 and a 200 day moving average of $222.42. Acuity Brands has a one year low of $149.30 and a one year high of $272.74.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.23. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 9.81%. The firm had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.01 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Acuity Brands will post 14.48 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Acuity Brands’s dividend 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.