Generac (GNRC) Competitors

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

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

98.2% of Acuity Brands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of Generac shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Acuity Brands shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Generac shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better earnings and valuation, AYI or GNRC?

Acuity Brands has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Generac. Acuity Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Generac, 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	20.44
Generac	$4.35B	1.75	$316.32M	$5.74	22.39

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AYI or GNRC?

Acuity Brands received 203 more outperform votes than Generac when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.67% of users gave Acuity Brands an outperform vote while only 57.48% of users gave Generac an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Acuity Brands	Outperform Votes 718 67.67%	Underperform Votes 343 32.33%
Generac	Outperform Votes 515 57.48%	Underperform Votes 381 42.52%

Does the media refer more to AYI or GNRC?

In the previous week, Generac had 12 more articles in the media than Acuity Brands. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Generac and 3 mentions for Acuity Brands. Acuity Brands' average media sentiment score of 1.64 beat Generac's score of 1.27 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	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Generac	10 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, AYI or GNRC?

Acuity Brands has a beta of 1.6, indicating that its share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Generac has a beta of 1.7, indicating that its share price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer AYI or GNRC?

Acuity Brands presently has a consensus price target of $317.60, indicating a potential upside of 17.80%. Generac has a consensus price target of $168.37, indicating a potential upside of 31.03%. Given Generac's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Generac is more favorable than Acuity Brands.

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
Generac	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65

Is AYI or GNRC more profitable?

Acuity Brands has a net margin of 11.11% compared to Generac's net margin of 7.36%. Acuity Brands' return on equity of 19.98% beat Generac's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acuity Brands	11.11%	19.98%	12.44%
Generac	7.36%	18.17%	8.54%

Summary

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