Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $339.34 and last traded at $337.10, with a volume of 9401 shares. The stock had previously closed at $335.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AYI. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com cut Acuity Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Acuity Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $304.00 to $370.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, William Blair raised Acuity Brands from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Acuity Brands has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $341.40.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 0.3 %

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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $315.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $285.31. The company has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.40.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The firm had revenue of $951.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $955.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 303.8% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 21,000 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $5,070,000 after purchasing an additional 15,800 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 7,167 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $1,450,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 298.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 25,500 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $6,157,000 after purchasing an additional 19,100 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in Acuity Brands by 47.4% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 2,800 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.