Acuity Brands, Inc., (NYSE:AYI) acquired LocusLabs, Inc., a leading indoor mapping and location platform. With the acquisition, Acuity Brands aims to provide venues with an indoor positioning system. However, the financial details of the transaction were kept under wraps. The buyout is not expected to materially impact Acuity Brands’ fiscal 2020 performance.
How LocusLabs Buyout Will Help Acuity Brands?
LocusLabs’ software platform supports navigation applications (apps) used on mobile devices, web browsers and digital displays in airports, event centers, multi-floor office buildings and campuses. These apps utilize location-aware technologies to help people find way and assist operators in critical asset management.
The combination of LocusLabs technology with Acuity Brands’ Atrius IoT platform will provide venues with an indoor positioning system, which can be easily arranged and maintained, enabling visitor and employee wayfinding, asset tracking, and business analytics.
Strong Inorganic Drive
Acuity Brands is committed to expanding geographic borders and product portfolio through acquisitions and joint ventures. On Sep 17, 2019, the company acquired The Luminaires Group— a leading provider of specification-grade lightening solutions based in Canada. The said buyout will be accretive to Acuity Brands’ earnings in fiscal 2020. On Jun 20, 2019, the company acquired New Castle, DE-based manufacturer of advanced optical components, WhiteOptics, L.L.C. The acquisition enhanced its optical material offering to boost the performance of commercial and architectural products.
In fiscal 2018, Acuity Brands spent $163 million for acquisitions of Lucid Design Group and IOTA Engineering. IOTA is the industry leader in emergency lighting and power equipment for commercial and institutional applications. The IOTA acquisition enhanced its market leadership in the lighting category.
Share Price Performance
Acuity Brands, with a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), has outperformed the industry year to date. Its leading market position, diversified portfolio of innovative lighting control solutions and energy-efficient luminaries are substantial growth drivers.
However, the company remains cautiously optimistic for fiscal 2020 due to U.S.-China trade tensions and rising tariffs. Also, Acuity Brands continues to expect sluggish market demand for lighting products. Nonetheless, it anticipates the Luminaires Group acquisition to mitigate the above-mentioned headwinds to some extent.
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks in the Construction sector include Orion Energy Systems, Inc (NASDAQ:OESX) , Quanta Services, Inc (NYSE:PWR) and Energy Focus, Inc (NASDAQ:EFOI) . Orion Energy and Quanta Services currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Energy Focus carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Orion Energy’s current-year earnings are expected to rise 256.5%.
Quanta Services has three-five year expected earnings per share growth rate of 14.5%.
Energy Focus’s current-year earnings are expected to rise 23%.
5 Stocks Set to Double
Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.
Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>
Acuity Brands Inc (AYI): Free Stock Analysis Report
Energy Focus, Inc. (EFOI): Free Stock Analysis Report
Orion Energy Systems, Inc. (OESX): Free Stock Analysis Report
Quanta Services, Inc. (PWR): Free Stock Analysis Report
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