General Cable (BGC) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility and risk, BGC or AYI?

General Cable has a beta of 1.51, indicating that its share price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acuity Brands has a beta of 1.6, indicating that its share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to BGC or AYI?

In the previous week, Acuity Brands had 12 more articles in the media than General Cable. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Acuity Brands and 0 mentions for General Cable. Acuity Brands' average media sentiment score of 1.63 beat General Cable's score of 0.00 indicating that Acuity Brands is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
General Cable	Neutral
Acuity Brands	Very Positive

Which has better earnings & valuation, BGC or AYI?

Acuity Brands has higher revenue and earnings than General Cable. Acuity Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than General Cable, 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
General Cable	$2.03B	2.27	$36.26M	$0.07	133.29
Acuity Brands	$3.96B	2.06	$422.60M	$13.19	20.03

Is BGC or AYI more profitable?

Acuity Brands has a net margin of 11.11% compared to General Cable's net margin of 1.74%. General Cable's return on equity of 48.53% beat Acuity Brands' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
General Cable	1.74%	48.53%	10.49%
Acuity Brands	11.11%	19.98%	12.44%

Is BGC or AYI a better dividend stock?

General Cable pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Acuity Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. General Cable pays out 57.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acuity Brands pays out 5.2% 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. General Cable has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Acuity Brands has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

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

52.1% of General Cable shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.2% of Acuity Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 47.9% of General Cable shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Acuity Brands shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate BGC or AYI?

General Cable presently has a consensus price target of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 50.05%. Acuity Brands has a consensus price target of $317.60, suggesting a potential upside of 20.23%. Given General Cable's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe General Cable is more favorable than Acuity Brands.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
General Cable	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Acuity Brands	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the MarketBeat Community favor BGC or AYI?

Acuity Brands received 447 more outperform votes than General Cable when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.67% of users gave Acuity Brands an outperform vote while only 64.99% of users gave General Cable an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
General Cable	Outperform Votes 271 64.99%	Underperform Votes 146 35.01%
Acuity Brands	Outperform Votes 718 67.67%	Underperform Votes 343 32.33%

Summary

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