Belden (BDC) Competitors

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

Is AYI or BDC more profitable?

Acuity has a net margin of 9.63% compared to Belden's net margin of 8.35%. Belden's return on equity of 22.28% beat Acuity's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acuity	9.63%	20.35%	11.98%
Belden	8.35%	22.28%	8.23%

Which has more risk and volatility, AYI or BDC?

Acuity has a beta of 1.62, meaning that its stock price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Belden has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AYI or BDC a better dividend stock?

Acuity pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Belden pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity pays out 5.4% 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 has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Acuity is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

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

98.2% of Acuity shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.8% of Belden shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Acuity shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Belden shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to AYI or BDC?

In the previous week, Acuity had 5 more articles in the media than Belden. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Acuity and 10 mentions for Belden. Belden's average media sentiment score of 1.17 beat Acuity's score of 0.99 indicating that Belden is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Acuity	12 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Belden	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, AYI or BDC?

Acuity has higher revenue and earnings than Belden. Belden 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
Acuity	$3.84B	2.44	$422.60M	$12.69	24.05
Belden	$2.46B	1.95	$198.43M	$5.18	23.51

Do analysts prefer AYI or BDC?

Acuity presently has a consensus price target of $340.60, indicating a potential upside of 11.61%. Belden has a consensus price target of $128.20, indicating a potential upside of 5.28%. Given Acuity's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Acuity is more favorable than Belden.

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
Belden	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Acuity beats Belden on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.