Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Reaches New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $333.35 and last traded at $333.35, with a volume of 3761 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $330.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Acuity Brands has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 1.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $286.65 and a 200-day moving average of $262.27.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.74 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 4.46%.

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 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,573,590. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 366.2% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 345,628 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $83,430,000 after purchasing an additional 271,485 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 187.8% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 330,331 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $79,755,000 after acquiring an additional 215,547 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 353.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 173,683 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $41,934,000 after acquiring an additional 135,350 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 35.7% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 407,164 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $98,306,000 after acquiring an additional 107,171 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in Acuity Brands during the first quarter valued at about $25,188,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.