Powell Industries (POWL) Competitors

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) and Acuity (NYSE:AYI) are both mid-cap electrical components & equipment companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings and media sentiment.

Is POWL or AYI a better dividend stock?

Powell Industries pays an annual dividend of $1.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Acuity pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Powell Industries pays out 7.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acuity pays out 5.4% 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. Powell Industries has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Acuity has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Do analysts rate POWL or AYI?

Powell Industries currently has a consensus target price of $312.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.48%. Acuity has a consensus target price of $340.60, suggesting a potential upside of 5.39%. Given Powell Industries' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Powell Industries is more favorable than Acuity.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Powell Industries	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.50
Acuity	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has better valuation & earnings, POWL or AYI?

Acuity has higher revenue and earnings than Powell Industries. Powell Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acuity, 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
Powell Industries	$1.01B	3.22	$149.85M	$14.40	18.76
Acuity	$3.84B	2.58	$422.60M	$12.69	25.47

Does the media refer more to POWL or AYI?

In the previous week, Powell Industries had 11 more articles in the media than Acuity. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Powell Industries and 8 mentions for Acuity. Acuity's average media sentiment score of 1.44 beat Powell Industries' score of 0.85 indicating that Acuity is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Powell Industries	6 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Acuity	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals believe in POWL or AYI?

89.8% of Powell Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.2% of Acuity shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Powell Industries shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Acuity shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, POWL or AYI?

Powell Industries has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acuity has a beta of 1.64, suggesting that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is POWL or AYI more profitable?

Powell Industries has a net margin of 16.22% compared to Acuity's net margin of 9.63%. Powell Industries' return on equity of 33.16% beat Acuity's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Powell Industries	16.22%	33.16%	18.23%
Acuity	9.63%	20.35%	11.98%

Summary

Powell Industries beats Acuity on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.