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

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) had its price objective lifted by Oppenheimer from $380.00 to $435.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

AYI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $395.17.

Acuity Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $356.09 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $327.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $375.67.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AYI. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Acuity during the first quarter worth about $250,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Acuity during the first quarter worth about $379,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Acuity by 20.7% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,533 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,514,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Acuity by 12.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 542,715 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $142,907,000 after acquiring an additional 60,784 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Acuity by 12.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 863 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Acuity 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.