Acuity Brands (AYI) Competitors

Simpson Manufacturing (NYSE:SSD) and Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) are both mid-cap construction companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, community ranking and analyst recommendations.

Does the media prefer SSD or AYI?

In the previous week, Simpson Manufacturing and Simpson Manufacturing both had 5 articles in the media. Simpson Manufacturing's average media sentiment score of 0.71 beat Acuity Brands' score of 0.63 indicating that Acuity Brands is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Simpson Manufacturing	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Acuity Brands	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer SSD or AYI?

Simpson Manufacturing presently has a consensus price target of $190.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.48%. Acuity Brands has a consensus price target of $289.25, indicating a potential upside of 14.60%. Given Simpson Manufacturing's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Acuity Brands is more favorable than Simpson Manufacturing.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Simpson Manufacturing	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Acuity Brands	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SSD or AYI?

Acuity Brands received 479 more outperform votes than Simpson Manufacturing when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 68.16% of users gave Acuity Brands an outperform vote while only 56.89% of users gave Simpson Manufacturing an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Simpson Manufacturing	Outperform Votes 223 56.89%	Underperform Votes 169 43.11%
Acuity Brands	Outperform Votes 702 68.16%	Underperform Votes 328 31.84%

Is SSD or AYI a better dividend stock?

Simpson Manufacturing pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Acuity Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Simpson Manufacturing pays out 13.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acuity Brands pays out 5.0% 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. Simpson Manufacturing has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Acuity Brands has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Simpson Manufacturing is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, SSD or AYI?

Simpson Manufacturing has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Acuity Brands. Acuity Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Simpson Manufacturing, 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
Simpson Manufacturing	$2.21B	3.56	$353.99M	$8.26	22.45
Acuity Brands	$3.95B	1.97	$346M	$11.96	21.10

Is SSD or AYI more profitable?

Simpson Manufacturing has a net margin of 15.99% compared to Simpson Manufacturing's net margin of 9.81%. Acuity Brands' return on equity of 22.06% beat Simpson Manufacturing's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Simpson Manufacturing	15.99%	22.06%	13.12%
Acuity Brands	9.81%	21.22%	12.57%

Which has more volatility and risk, SSD or AYI?

Simpson Manufacturing has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acuity Brands has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of SSD or AYI?

93.7% of Simpson Manufacturing shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.2% of Acuity Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Simpson Manufacturing shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Acuity Brands shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Acuity Brands beats Simpson Manufacturing on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.