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

Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $320.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AYI shares. Oppenheimer upped 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Acuity Brands in a research note on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $304.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AYI. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 5.7% during 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 lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 293 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,849,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $26,314,000 after acquiring an additional 18,919 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE AYI opened at $307.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $314.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.78. Acuity Brands has a 12 month low of $204.34 and a 12 month high of $337.99.

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.