Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Given New $286.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) had its target price increased by Robert W. Baird from $236.00 to $286.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on AYI. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Acuity Brands from $200.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $215.00.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:AYI opened at $268.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $249.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Acuity Brands has a 12-month low of $149.30 and a 12-month high of $270.95. The firm has a market cap of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.49.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 9th. The electronics maker reported $3.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.49. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 21.43%. The firm had revenue of $934.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $935.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands will post 13.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 1,900 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.01, for a total value of $429,419.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,946,172.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Dianne S. Mills sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.11, for a total transaction of $1,350,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,925,590.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 1,900 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.01, for a total value of $429,419.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,946,172.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Acuity Brands

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Acuity Brands by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.