Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $320.00.

AYI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Acuity Brands in a research report on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $304.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $307.80 on Thursday. Acuity Brands has a fifty-two week low of $204.34 and a fifty-two week high of $337.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $314.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $278.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This represents a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,846 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,965,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,849,000. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 6,477 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 1,917 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $484,000. Finally, McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 15.0% in the third quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 21,285 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,862,000 after acquiring an additional 2,773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands 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.