Zacks Research Forecasts Reduced Earnings for Acuity Brands

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Acuity Brands in a research note issued on Tuesday, October 15th. Zacks Research analyst A. Ram now forecasts that the electronics maker will post earnings per share of $3.56 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $3.58. The consensus estimate for Acuity Brands’ current full-year earnings is $15.48 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Acuity Brands’ Q2 2025 earnings at $3.35 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $4.09 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $4.45 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $15.46 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $3.90 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.74 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.30 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $4.71 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $16.65 EPS.

AYI has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of AYI opened at $306.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $265.65 and its 200-day moving average is $256.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.16. Acuity Brands has a 12-month low of $156.84 and a 12-month high of $312.20.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.74 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 517.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Acuity Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 4,214.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 302 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.88%.

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.