Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Price Target Lowered to $320.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $330.00 to $320.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the electronics maker’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 5.65% from the company’s current price.

AYI has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Acuity Brands in a report on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $304.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.00.

Acuity Brands Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE AYI traded down $4.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $302.88. 128,731 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 321,859. Acuity Brands has a twelve month low of $204.34 and a twelve month high of $337.99. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $314.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $279.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 517.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 229.7% in 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 during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.