Belden (BDC) Competitors

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

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, AYI or BDC?

Acuity Brands has higher revenue and earnings than Belden. Acuity Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Belden, 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 Brands	$3.96B	2.10	$422.60M	$13.19	20.39
Belden	$2.55B	1.71	$198.43M	$5.18	21.35

Is AYI or BDC a better dividend stock?

Acuity Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Belden pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity Brands pays out 5.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Belden pays out 3.9% 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 Brands has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Acuity Brands is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media refer more to AYI or BDC?

In the previous week, Belden had 1 more articles in the media than Acuity Brands. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Belden and 5 mentions for Acuity Brands. Acuity Brands' average media sentiment score of 1.83 beat Belden's score of 1.68 indicating that Acuity Brands is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Acuity Brands	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Belden	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, AYI or BDC?

Acuity Brands has a beta of 1.6, indicating that its share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Belden has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AYI or BDC more profitable?

Acuity Brands has a net margin of 11.11% compared to Belden's net margin of 8.06%. Belden's return on equity of 21.42% beat Acuity Brands' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acuity Brands	11.11%	19.98%	12.44%
Belden	8.06%	21.42%	7.90%

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in AYI or BDC?

98.2% of Acuity Brands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.8% of Belden shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Acuity Brands shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Belden shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AYI or BDC?

Acuity Brands received 253 more outperform votes than Belden when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.67% of users gave Acuity Brands an outperform vote while only 66.62% of users gave Belden an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Acuity Brands	Outperform Votes 718 67.67%	Underperform Votes 343 32.33%
Belden	Outperform Votes 465 66.62%	Underperform Votes 233 33.38%

Do analysts prefer AYI or BDC?

Acuity Brands currently has a consensus price target of $317.60, suggesting a potential upside of 18.06%. Belden has a consensus price target of $126.20, suggesting a potential upside of 14.09%. Given Acuity Brands' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Acuity Brands is more favorable than Belden.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acuity Brands	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Belden	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Acuity Brands beats Belden on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.