Generac (GNRC) Competitors

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

Is GNRC or AYI 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
Generac	7.36%	18.17%	8.54%
Acuity Brands	11.11%	19.98%	12.44%

Which has more risk & volatility, GNRC or AYI?

Generac has a beta of 1.73, suggesting that its stock price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acuity Brands has a beta of 1.6, suggesting that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to GNRC or AYI?

In the previous week, Generac and Generac both had 14 articles in the media. Acuity Brands' average media sentiment score of 1.62 beat Generac's score of 1.51 indicating that Acuity Brands is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Generac	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Acuity Brands	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, GNRC or AYI?

Acuity Brands has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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
Generac	$4.35B	1.76	$316.32M	$5.74	22.57
Acuity Brands	$3.96B	2.13	$422.60M	$13.19	20.71

Does the MarketBeat Community favor GNRC or AYI?

Acuity Brands received 206 more outperform votes than Generac when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.67% of users gave Acuity Brands an outperform vote while only 57.40% of users gave Generac an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Generac	Outperform Votes 512 57.40%	Underperform Votes 380 42.60%
Acuity Brands	Outperform Votes 718 67.67%	Underperform Votes 343 32.33%

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

84.0% of Generac shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.2% of Acuity Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of Generac shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Acuity Brands shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts prefer GNRC or AYI?

Generac presently has a consensus price target of $167.20, suggesting a potential upside of 29.06%. Acuity Brands has a consensus price target of $317.60, suggesting a potential upside of 16.24%. Given Generac's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Generac is more favorable than Acuity Brands.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Generac	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.62
Acuity Brands	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Summary

Acuity Brands beats Generac on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.