The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Stock Price

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) had its price objective hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $312.00 to $356.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on AYI. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Acuity has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.17.

Acuity Stock Down 1.9%

NYSE AYI opened at $356.09 on Thursday. Acuity has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $375.67. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $327.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.76. 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 Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Acuity

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Acuity by 1,100.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Acuity in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in Acuity by 525.0% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 125 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Acuity by 3,175.0% during the second quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

About Acuity

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.