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

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set an “equal weight” rating and a $304.00 price target on the electronics maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 0.24% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. William Blair raised Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.00.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Acuity Brands stock opened at $304.72 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $314.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.68. The stock has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. Acuity Brands has a 12-month low of $204.34 and a 12-month high of $337.99.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity Brands 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 293 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.3% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,498 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,717,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 1.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,811 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Acuity Brands by 12.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 427 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Acuity Brands by 16.6% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 352 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 50 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.