Morgan Stanley Begins Coverage on Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI)

Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $304.00 target price on the electronics maker’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.00.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $307.80 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $314.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $278.78. The company has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. Acuity Brands has a twelve month low of $204.34 and a twelve month high of $337.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Acuity Brands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 49,449 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $14,602,000 after purchasing an additional 2,677 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Acuity Brands by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 293 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,849,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 95,551 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $26,314,000 after acquiring an additional 18,919 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.