Brokerages Set Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Price Target at $324.00

Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $324.00.

A number of equities analysts have commented on AYI shares. William Blair raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:AYI opened at $301.60 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $314.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Acuity Brands has a 52 week low of $201.88 and a 52 week high of $337.99.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity Brands 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 value of $1,561,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Acuity Brands by 517.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 229.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 244 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

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.