Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Sets New 52-Week Low - Should You Sell?

Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $216.81 and last traded at $219.00, with a volume of 97771 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. William Blair upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Stock Down 0.7 %

The company has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $281.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $302.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AYI. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 1st quarter worth $309,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,268 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 36.4% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,490,000 after buying an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. Yarbrough Capital LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $357,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Acuity Brands by 45.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 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.