Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Stock Price Down 6.5% – What’s Next?

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)’s share price was down 6.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $302.70 and last traded at $310.50. Approximately 113,456 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 346,702 shares. The stock had previously closed at $332.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. William Blair raised Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Acuity Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $304.00 to $370.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Acuity Brands from $320.00 to $336.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $341.40.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $317.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.40.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $951.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $955.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. This is a boost from Acuity Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. 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.