Fundamental analysis: Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI)

Awarener score: 7.5

Conclusion

The higher the Awarener score, the more bang you get for the buck. It measures how much genuine funds the company generates for the stock price paid (Very good), the business stability (Very good) and growth (Poor), and the company's inclination to return cash to the stockholders (Excellent).

Note: All scores range from 1 (worst) to 10 (best). Conclusions are updated daily with closing stock prices and new reported quarterly financial statements.

Revenue score: 5.5

Business has been shrinking. It's been substantially worse when measured against peer companies.
Acuity Brands, Inc. business trend stability is very good. The higher the stability, the lower the risk. It looks well ranked against rivals.

Margins score: 7.0

AYI profit margins -on goods and services sold- are usually good. They stand better than most rival companies.
Business profit on sales tends to be very good. It's encouraging in relation to competitors.
Profits on sales made -available to repay debt and purchase properties- are usually sufficient. They remain rather normal in relation to peers.
Earnings -before income taxes and interests on loans taken- tend to be good in relation to total revenues. They're still somewhat better than similar companies.
Profits -before income taxes- are usually good considering total sales, and remain more than average in relation to rivals.
Total net profit tends to be good when confronted to sales. Company stands encouraging in relation to comparable firms.

Growth score: 3.1

Acuity Brands, Inc. profit growth -on goods and services sold- has been almost stagnant. It's been in a weak position compared to competitors.
In recent years, earnings growth -on operations- have been almost stagnant, which has been mediocre against comparable firms.
Profits growth -available to repay debt and purchase properties- have been almost stagnant, which compares weak when measured against peer enterprises.
Growth on earnings -before income taxes and interests on loans taken- have been almost stagnant. It turns to be in a weak position compared to similar stocks.
In past years, growth on profits -before income taxes- was almost stagnant. It was mediocre against rivals.
In the previous years, growth on total net profit has been almost null, and weak when measured against peer companies.
Earnings per share have grown at a very low rhythm in past years. It's been in a weak position compared to industry peers.

Miscellaneous score: 6.0

AYI had to pay sparse income taxes in relation to profits made in the past years. It's been slightly worse than peers.
The company does not report R&D expenses. It's meaningless to measure in relation to competitors.
We have insufficient data to estimate how effective is research and development effort. It stands unknown against rival companies.

Profitability score: 9.5

Acuity Brands, Inc. usually gets huge returns on the resources it controls. It proves great when measured against peer firms.
The company normally gets excellent proceeds -on the resources directly invested in the business-. They remain impressive in relation to similar companies.
There's usually excellent profitability -in relation to owned resources-. It ranks great when measured against competitors.
In the past, got huge returns -on the tangible resources it controls-. This metric is usually related to the industry in which operates and combines profitability versus reinvestment needs. It's top tier when measured against comparable enterprises.

Usage of Funds score: 6.0

AYI usually uses a portion of genuine funds generated to buy or replace property, plant, or equipment. The need for reinvestments is rather normal. It stands top tier when measured against rival firms.
The company is usually replacing some proportion of the property, plant, and equipment that gets old, saving part of the funds for something else, which is weak when measured against industry peers.
In the past twelve months it paid very little dividends, considering the current stock price. It came somewhat worse than competitors.
In recent years, has cut back dividend payments. It could be traversing challenging times. The company has behaved close to average when compared to similar firms.
Dividend payments usually represent a slight portion of genuine funds generation and are most likely safe. Sustainability looks somewhat better than comparable companies.
The company usually significantly reduces the pool of investors, resulting in fewer mouths feeding on the pie of profits. It remains impressive in relation to peer enterprises.
Repurchase effectiveness metric is very complex. Run again in analytical mode if you 're interested in a technical explanation. It stands excellent in relation to rivals.
The company uses a significant portion of genuine fund generation to reward investors, which can probably be sustained for as long as business doesn't turn sour. It still looks below average when measured against competitors.

Balance Sheet score: 5.9

Acuity Brands, Inc. intangible assets (like brands and goodwill) represent a significant portion of resources controlled, according to accounting books. There could be significant difficulties in liquidating them if the company ever gets in financial distress. It happens to be substantially worse when measured against peer companies.
The company has roughly double short-term resources than short-term obligations. Liquidity concerns are normally not an issue. It turns to be in a very weak position compared to similar firms.
Roughly a tenth of resources controlled were provided for with financial debt. Creditors have minor claims on the company, and financial position is safe. It remains somewhat worse than rival firms.
Controlled resources take time to be turned into cash and equivalents, which is somewhat risky. It looks substantially worse when measured against rivals.
For every dollar of short-term obligations, the company has enough dollars in cash and short-term receivables. It's lacking compared to peer firms.
For every dollar of short-term obligations, the company has roughly half of cash and equivalents, which is somewhat worse than similar enterprises.
Usually, sales are on a two-months credit. It still ranks similar to peers.
Normally has approximately somewhat more than two months of sales worth in inventory. It comes up as a slight improvement compared to competitors.
On average, it takes higher than four months from the purchase to charging customers. It happens to be better than most peers.
On average pays suppliers longer than two months after the purchase. It ranks encouraging in relation to industry peers.
The company pays its suppliers roughly two months before charging its customers, so there's some money invested in working capital. It's excellent in relation to similar companies.
Net interest expenses consume a slight portion of usual business earnings, and are very easily bearable. It stands somewhat better than rival firms.
Business earnings have usually been excellent when measured against loans taken. It could take less than two years to repay the obligations with current profitability. It ranks more than average in relation to comparable enterprises.
Revenues are very good in relation to property, plant, and equipment required to operate. This metric is likely dependent on the industry the company operates in. Low property, plant, and equipment requirements allows the company to keep more money to reward stockholders in the long run. It looks excellent in relation to similar firms.
Resource exploitation is excellent when yearly sales are considered. This metric is normally tied to the industry where the firm belongs. It's still better than most peer companies.

Valuation score: 6.6

Acuity Brands, Inc. looks reasonable in relation to profits and financial position. It happens to be similar to competitors.
Price-to-Tangible-Book-Value is a fairly complex metric. Run again in analytical mode if you're interested in a technical explanation. It remains in a weak position compared to peers.
In the past twelve months, the company generated some good free funds in relation to the stock price, which stands somewhat better than similar companies.
The company usually generates much more genuine funds to cover up for its business needs. Surplus cash may be used to repay loans, to eventually buy new businesses, or to reward investors. Considering the financial position and stock price, at the current price the share might be very interesting. It's still more than average in relation to industry firms.
In the past twelve months, the company has rewarded investors, considering both dividends and share on the pie of earnings. It came up impressive in relation to peer ventures.
The company has neither net debt nor net cash. It may borrow extra money if it wishes so, or start cumulating cash for future uses. It looks slightly worse than similar enterprises.
Considering the past twelve months, traditional Price-to-Earnings relation might be more or less reasonable, but hardly cheap. It ranks similar to peer companies.
Comparing the current stock price with the past twelve-months revenues gives a roughly two to one relationship. This is an important metric to check its evolution through time, and to compare to industry peers. It looks close to average when compared to rival firms.
The relation between the stock price and accounting book value is significantly high, which may be good or bad depending on context. Run again in analytic mode if you want to dig deeper. The company remains slightly worse than peer firms.
In the past twelve months, the operating business earned good money when compared to the current stock price and financial position. It happens to be encouraging in relation to industry peers.
In an alternate metric of bang for the buck, the company has usually shown a very good earnings power ability when measured against the current stock price and financial position. It's still in good shape compared to peer companies.

Total score: 6.2

Company at a glance: Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI)

Sector, industry: Industrials, Electrical Equipment & Parts

Market Cap: 5.56 billions

Revenues TTM: 4.08 billions

Acuity Brands, Inc. provides lighting and building management solutions in North America and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the Lithonia Lighting, Holophane, Peerless, Gotham, Mark Architectural Lighting, Winona Lighting, Juno, Indy, Aculux, Healthcare Lighting, Hydrel, American Electric Lighting, Sunoptics, eldoLED, nLight, Sensor Switch, IOTA, A-Light, Cyclone, Eureka, Lumniaire LED, Luminis, Dark to Light, and RELOC Wiring Solutions brands. This segment serves electrical distributors, retail home improvement centers, electric utilities, national accounts, digital retailers, lighting showrooms, and energy service companies. The ISG segment offers building management systems and location-aware applications under the Distech Controls, Atrius, and Rockpile Ventures brands. This segment serves system integrators, as well as retail stores, airports, and enterprise campuses. Acuity Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.