Acuity Brands Earnings Beat Consensus, Sales a Slight Miss

Acuity Brands Inc. , a lighting and energy management company, said it had net income of $68.4 million, or $1.57 per share, in the first quarter 2016, up from $51.1 million, or $1.17 per share for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings were $1.65 per share. The FactSet consensus was $1.58 per share. Sales totaled $736.6 million, up from $647.4 million the year prior. The FactSet consensus was $740 million. Adjusted results exclude the impact of adjustments and stock-based compensation related to the acquisition of Distech Controls. Management believes this impacts the comparability of the results, the company said in a statement. Acuity completed the acquisitions of lighting company Juno and software company Geometri after the close of the first quarter. Shares of Acuity are up 57.6% for the past 12 months while the S&P is down 5.8%.