Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Rating Lowered to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) was downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $260.00 price target on the electronics maker’s stock, down from their prior price target of $295.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.69% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $279.00.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Acuity Brands stock opened at $241.44 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $244.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.77. Acuity Brands has a one year low of $154.72 and a one year high of $272.74. The company has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.44.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.23. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The company had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.01 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Acuity Brands will post 14.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Acuity Brands news, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $49,782. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $248.91 per share, with a total value of $49,782.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $49,782. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total value of $2,031,048.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,320,062.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 5,666.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Acuity Brands

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.