Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $395.1667.

AYI has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Saturday, September 27th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the first quarter worth about $250,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Acuity in the first quarter worth about $379,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 20.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,533 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,514,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 12.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 542,715 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $142,907,000 after acquiring an additional 60,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 12.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 863 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Price Performance

NYSE:AYI opened at $353.00 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $328.66 and a 200-day moving average of $288.37. The company has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $375.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s payout ratio is currently 5.43%.

About Acuity

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.