Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Stock Price

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) had its price objective upped by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $400.00 to $410.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the electronics maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 8.93% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price objective on Acuity in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $315.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Acuity from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.17.

Acuity Price Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $376.40 on Wednesday. Acuity has a 52 week low of $257.04 and a 52 week high of $380.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $301.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $307.64.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The electronics maker reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.12 EPS. Analysts forecast that Acuity will post 18.08 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $288.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,766.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,532. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura O’shaughnessy purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $282.98 per share, for a total transaction of $282,980.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 3,111 shares in the company, valued at $880,350.78. This trade represents a 47.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity by 98.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 571,017 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $196,653,000 after buying an additional 283,203 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the 4th quarter worth about $2,019,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the 3rd quarter worth about $54,514,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Acuity by 499.6% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 164,275 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $59,145,000 after purchasing an additional 136,879 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,762,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Company Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc (NYSE: AYI) is a leading provider of lighting fixtures, controls and building management solutions designed for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential markets. The company’s core offerings include a broad range of LED luminaires, lighting controls, sensors and networked building systems that enhance energy efficiency, occupant comfort and operational productivity. Acuity Brands’ portfolio spans indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, emergency lighting, task lighting and architectural products, as well as advanced controls such as daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing and wireless sensor networks.

Beyond traditional lighting, Acuity Brands delivers integrated digital solutions through its Connected Building platform, which combines smart sensors, cloud-based analytics and mobile applications to enable real-time monitoring and remote management of lighting and environmental systems.