Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Stock Rating Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Acuity (NYSE:AYI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on AYI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Acuity from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Acuity from $295.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Oppenheimer set a $465.00 price target on shares of Acuity in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, William Blair lowered shares of Acuity from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $390.20.

Acuity Stock Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $309.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Acuity has a twelve month low of $257.04 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $330.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $311.63.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.57 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.30% and a net margin of 11.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Acuity will post 19.95 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 16th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity news, CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total value of $659,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,750,880.14. The trade was a 10.28% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity by 1.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,338 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity by 3.8% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 996 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Acuity by 110.2% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 103 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Acuity in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Acuity

Here are the key news stories impacting Acuity this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Earnings exceeded expectations: Acuity reported fiscal Q4 adjusted earnings of $5.77 per share, above the roughly $5.53–$5.57 analyst consensus and up from $5.20 a year earlier. Revenue reached approximately $1.24 billion, while full-year results showed improved operating performance and strong cash flow. Acuity Reports Fiscal 2026 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability improved: Commentary highlighted margin expansion that outpaced revenue growth, suggesting Acuity’s cost controls, operating execution and business mix are supporting earnings even as top-line growth remains modest. AYI Q3 Deep Dive: Margin Expansion Outpaces Revenue Growth Amid Mixed Top-Line Results
• Positive Sentiment: Fiscal 2027 outlook provides support: Management projected fiscal 2027 sales of $4.7 billion to $4.9 billion and earnings of $20.50 to $22.00 per share. The earnings call also pointed to growth led by Acuity Intelligent Spaces (AIS), potentially reinforcing the longer-term growth case. Acuity fiscal 2027 outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Capital-return activity was updated: A tranche update to Acuity’s existing equity buyback plan may provide incremental shareholder support, though the report does not indicate a major change to the overall repurchase program. Acuity equity buyback plan update
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue missed expectations in the core lighting business: Despite the EPS beat, revenue was viewed as modestly below expectations, weighing on sentiment and raising questions about demand in Acuity’s core market. Acuity stock and Q4 revenue miss
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution and cost pressures remain: William Blair downgraded AYI to Hold amid a softening lighting market. Management also flagged an approximately 200-basis-point AIS memory-cost headwind, which could limit near-term margin gains. Acuity downgraded to Hold

Acuity Company Profile

Acuity (NYSE: AYI) is a technology company that provides lighting, lighting controls and building-management solutions for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential environments. Its products are designed to improve illumination, energy efficiency, automation and the overall performance of indoor and outdoor spaces.

The company offers a broad portfolio of lighting fixtures, controls, sensors and connected-building technologies. Its brands and product lines have included Lithonia Lighting, Holophane, Peerless, SensorSwitch, Distech Controls and Atrius.