Franklin Electric (FELE) Competitors

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) and Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking and risk.

Is FELE or AYI a better dividend stock?

Franklin Electric pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Acuity Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Franklin Electric pays out 27.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acuity Brands pays out 5.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Franklin Electric has raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years. Franklin Electric is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media refer more to FELE or AYI?

In the previous week, Franklin Electric had 7 more articles in the media than Acuity Brands. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Franklin Electric and 13 mentions for Acuity Brands. Acuity Brands' average media sentiment score of 1.75 beat Franklin Electric's score of 0.38 indicating that Acuity Brands is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Franklin Electric	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Acuity Brands	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FELE or AYI?

Acuity Brands received 421 more outperform votes than Franklin Electric when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.64% of users gave Acuity Brands an outperform vote while only 55.33% of users gave Franklin Electric an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Franklin Electric	Outperform Votes 296 55.33%	Underperform Votes 239 44.67%
Acuity Brands	Outperform Votes 717 67.64%	Underperform Votes 343 32.36%

Is FELE or AYI more profitable?

Acuity Brands has a net margin of 11.11% compared to Franklin Electric's net margin of 8.92%. Acuity Brands' return on equity of 19.98% beat Franklin Electric's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Franklin Electric	8.92%	14.46%	10.04%
Acuity Brands	11.11%	19.98%	12.44%

Do insiders & institutionals believe in FELE or AYI?

80.0% of Franklin Electric shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.2% of Acuity Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Franklin Electric shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Acuity Brands shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better earnings and valuation, FELE or AYI?

Acuity Brands has higher revenue and earnings than Franklin Electric. Acuity Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Franklin Electric, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Franklin Electric	$2.02B	1.92	$193.27M	$3.85	22.07
Acuity Brands	$3.96B	1.90	$422.60M	$13.19	18.48

Which has more volatility & risk, FELE or AYI?

Franklin Electric has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acuity Brands has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend FELE or AYI?

Franklin Electric presently has a consensus price target of $92.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.29%. Acuity Brands has a consensus price target of $317.60, indicating a potential upside of 30.29%. Given Acuity Brands' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Acuity Brands is more favorable than Franklin Electric.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Franklin Electric	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Acuity Brands	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Summary

Acuity Brands beats Franklin Electric on 16 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.