Contrasting Expion360 (NASDAQ:XPON) & Acuity (NYSE:AYI)

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) and Expion360 (NASDAQ:XPON) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Acuity and Expion360’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acuity	10.25%	20.26%	12.21%
Expion360	-82.32%	-102.32%	-83.35%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Acuity and Expion360″s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Acuity	$4.35 billion	2.09	$396.60 million	$15.08	20.08
Expion360	$9.65 million	0.46	-$6.24 million	($10.58)	-0.44

Acuity has higher revenue and earnings than Expion360. Expion360 is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acuity, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.2% of Acuity shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.5% of Expion360 shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of Acuity shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Expion360 shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Acuity and Expion360, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acuity	0	4	5	0	2.56
Expion360	1	0	0	0	1.00

Acuity currently has a consensus price target of $397.17, indicating a potential upside of 31.16%. Given Acuity’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Acuity is more favorable than Expion360.

Volatility and Risk

Acuity has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Expion360 has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Acuity beats Expion360 on 14 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Acuity

Acuity Brands, Inc. provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in 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 A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch. This segment serves electrical distributors, retail home improvement centers, electric utilities, national accounts, original equipment manufacturers, digital retailers, lighting showrooms, and energy service companies. The ISG segment offers building management solutions, such as products for controlling heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, shades, refrigeration, and building access that deliver end-to-end optimization of those building systems; and building management software that enhances building system management and automates labor intensive tasks. This segment serves system integrators, as well as retail stores, airports, and enterprise campuses. The company offers its products and solutions under the Atrius, Distech Controls, and KE2 Therm Solutions brands. Acuity Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Expion360

Expion360 Inc. designs, assembles, manufactures, and sells lithium iron phosphate batteries and supporting accessories under the VPR 4EVER name for recreational vehicles, marine, golf, industrial, residential, and off-the-grid applications. It provides battery monitors; direct current battery chargers; various models of industrial tie-downs; power generators AURA POWERCAP; terminal blocks; and bus bars. The company also engages in the development of e360 Home Energy Storage systems; e360 SmartTalk mobile application. It serves dealers, wholesalers, private label customers, and original equipment manufacturers in the United States and internationally. The company was formerly known as Yozamp Products Company, LLC and changed its name to Expion360 Inc. in November 2021. Expion360 Inc. was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Redmond, Oregon.