Acuity Brands Q1 EPS Forecast Increased by William Blair

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) – Investment analysts at William Blair increased their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Acuity Brands in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, March 27th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now anticipates that the electronics maker will earn $4.18 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $4.01. William Blair 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.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The business 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 posted $3.72 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Acuity Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $304.00 to $370.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Acuity Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.60.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:AYI opened at $263.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.41. Acuity Brands has a fifty-two week low of $217.64 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $299.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $304.54.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

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.