Q1 EPS Estimates for Acuity Brands Boosted by William Blair

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair raised their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Acuity Brands in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, March 27th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now anticipates that the electronics maker will post earnings of $4.18 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $4.01. William Blair currently has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Acuity Brands' current full-year earnings is $15.86 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Acuity Brands' Q2 2026 earnings at $4.05 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.84 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $18.11 EPS.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Acuity Brands from $340.00 to $310.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Acuity Brands from $336.00 to $290.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Acuity Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $304.00 to $370.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $330.60.

Remove Ads

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Acuity Brands stock traded down $7.72 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $258.68. 1,366,866 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 281,707. Acuity Brands has a 12-month low of $217.64 and a 12-month high of $345.30. The company has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $296.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $303.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $951.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $955.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.72 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. Acuity Brands's payout ratio is 5.01%.

Institutional Trading of Acuity Brands

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 192.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,615 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,640,000 after buying an additional 3,697 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 7,245 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,116,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,601,000. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $79,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 63.0% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,221 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is 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.