Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

AYI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Acuity presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.17.

Acuity Price Performance

Acuity stock opened at $348.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.62. Acuity has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year high of $375.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $353.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $314.82.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.84 by $0.36. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Acuity has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.000-20.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Acuity will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.01, for a total value of $1,724,862.87. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,880,665.45. The trade was a 30.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 10.0% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,484 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $11,188,000 after acquiring an additional 3,859 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in Acuity by 127.1% during the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 4,306 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Acuity during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $6,562,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in Acuity by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 25,200 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $6,636,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC lifted its holdings in Acuity by 71.0% in the 1st quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 3,023 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $796,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Company Profile

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.