Oppenheimer Issues Positive Forecast for Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Stock Price

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Oppenheimer from $370.00 to $380.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the electronics maker's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $320.00 to $336.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Acuity Brands in a research note on Monday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $304.00 price objective for the company. William Blair upgraded Acuity Brands from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective 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, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $328.20.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AYI traded up $9.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $312.99. 552,569 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 503,714. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.16. Acuity Brands has a 12 month low of $214.32 and a 12 month high of $337.99. The company has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $315.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $280.14.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The firm had revenue of $951.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $955.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.72 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,573,590. This trade represents a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Acuity Brands by 105.8% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,363 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $4,916,000 after buying an additional 10,470 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $441,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 835,521 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $201,728,000 after purchasing an additional 20,537 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in Acuity Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $649,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Acuity Brands by 187.8% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 330,331 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $79,755,000 after purchasing an additional 215,547 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

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.