TD Cowen Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Stock

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) had its price target boosted by TD Cowen from $330.00 to $390.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Acuity from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.17.

Acuity Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $353.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.64. Acuity has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $375.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $328.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Acuity by 192.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,615 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,640,000 after buying an additional 3,697 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity by 82.7% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,451 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 69.4% during the first quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 520 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity by 3.2% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Acuity by 45.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 250 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.