Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) Given New $320.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $330.00 to $320.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the electronics maker’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 5.65% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on AYI. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of 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 initiated coverage on Acuity Brands in a research report on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $304.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, William Blair raised Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.00.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

AYI stock traded down $4.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $302.88. 128,731 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 321,859. Acuity Brands has a one year low of $204.34 and a one year high of $337.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $314.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $279.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,573,590. This represents a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Acuity Brands by 105.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,363 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,916,000 after purchasing an additional 10,470 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Acuity Brands by 1.8% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,622 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,082,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in Acuity Brands by 8.0% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,846 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,965,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the second quarter worth about $441,000. Finally, Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 19.9% in the second quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently 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.