Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Stock Price

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) had its target price cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $330.00 to $320.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Acuity Brands in a research note on Monday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $304.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. William Blair raised Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $328.20.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 3.0 %

AYI opened at $312.99 on Tuesday. Acuity Brands has a one year low of $214.32 and a one year 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 stock has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $315.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $280.14.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $951.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $955.60 million. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.72 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands will post 15.51 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $1,561,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 517.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 229.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 244 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 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.