Brokerages Set Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) PT at $324.00

Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $324.00.

Several brokerages have issued reports on AYI. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, William Blair upgraded Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

NYSE:AYI opened at $301.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $314.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Acuity Brands has a 12 month low of $201.88 and a 12 month high of $337.99.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AYI. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 517.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 229.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 244 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. 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.