Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $320.00 to $336.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the electronics maker's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would indicate a potential upside of 7.35% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on AYI. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Acuity Brands in a research report on Monday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $304.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $328.20.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI traded up $9.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $312.99. 552,569 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 503,714. Acuity Brands has a one year low of $214.32 and a one year high of $337.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The company's 50 day moving average is $315.26 and its 200 day moving average is $280.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The firm had revenue of $951.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $955.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Acuity Brands

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Acuity Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AYI. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted 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 worth $79,755,000 after buying an additional 215,547 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 353.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 173,683 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $41,934,000 after acquiring an additional 135,350 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,026,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 35.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 407,164 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $98,306,000 after purchasing an additional 107,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Acuity Brands by 16.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,007 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $106,201,000 after purchasing an additional 63,159 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.