Arkados Group (OTCMKTS:IOTC) vs. Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Financial Review

Arkados Group (OTCMKTS:IOTC) and Acuity (NYSE:AYI) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.2% of Acuity shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.2% of Arkados Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Acuity 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Arkados Group and Acuity”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arkados Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Acuity	$4.35 billion	1.90	$396.60 million	$13.64	19.98

Acuity has higher revenue and earnings than Arkados Group.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arkados Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Acuity	9.37%	20.74%	12.20%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Arkados Group and Acuity, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arkados Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Acuity	0	4	5	0	2.56

Acuity has a consensus price target of $369.17, indicating a potential upside of 35.45%. Given Acuity’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Acuity is more favorable than Arkados Group.

Summary

Acuity beats Arkados Group on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Arkados Group

Iota Communications, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. It also provides energy conservation solutions. The company operates through Iota Networks, Iota Commercial Solutions, Iota Communications, and Iota Holdings. In addition, the company offers delphi360, a wireless connectivity and data analytics platform to integrate with devices and sensors, as well as provides BrightAI, an analytic platform that gathers information from sensor connectivity. Further, it provides IoT-based LED and smart lighting. Additionally, it offers smart building solutions, a platform for data management. Furthermore, the company serves healthcare, commercial real estate, education, utility, retail, and manufacturing industries; and city and municipals. Iota Communications, Inc. is based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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.