Acuity (AYI) Competitors

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) and Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) are related mid-cap companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, media sentiment, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and risk.

Which has more volatility & risk, AYI or DCI?

Acuity has a beta of 1.62, indicating that its share price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Donaldson has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AYI or DCI more profitable?

Donaldson has a net margin of 9.94% compared to Acuity's net margin of 9.63%. Donaldson's return on equity of 28.86% beat Acuity's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acuity	9.63%	20.35%	11.98%
Donaldson	9.94%	28.86%	14.63%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of AYI or DCI?

98.2% of Acuity shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.8% of Donaldson shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Acuity shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Donaldson shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend AYI or DCI?

Acuity presently has a consensus price target of $340.60, suggesting a potential upside of 15.16%. Donaldson has a consensus price target of $70.00, suggesting a potential downside of 0.12%. Given Acuity's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Acuity is more favorable than Donaldson.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acuity	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Donaldson	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is AYI or DCI a better dividend stock?

Acuity pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Donaldson pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Acuity pays out 5.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Donaldson pays out 40.3% 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. Acuity has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Donaldson has raised its dividend for 38 consecutive years. Donaldson is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, AYI or DCI?

Acuity has higher revenue and earnings than Donaldson. Acuity is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Donaldson, 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
Acuity	$4.17B	2.17	$422.60M	$12.69	23.31
Donaldson	$3.59B	2.28	$414M	$2.98	23.52

Does the media prefer AYI or DCI?

In the previous week, Acuity and Acuity both had 9 articles in the media. Acuity's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat Donaldson's score of 0.85 indicating that Acuity is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Acuity	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Donaldson	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Acuity beats Donaldson on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.