AYI vs ZWS Stock Comparison

Acuity Inc. (De) and Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AYI Acuity Inc. (De)
$318.76 -0.3% 1M -13.4% 1Y
Market cap
$9.82B
P/E
18.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.64B
Div. yield
0.00%
Building Products Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Acuity Inc. (De) leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Acuity Inc. (De) 7, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAYIZWSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $9.82B $8.22B AYI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 18.5x 29.8x AYI
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.9x 26.4x AYI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.8% +10.7% ZWS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.4% 15.5% ZWS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.4% 13.3% AYI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.1x 0.3x AYI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% ZWS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -13.4% +6.4% ZWS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +9.4%/yr +6.5%/yr AYI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 38.0% 27.5% ZWS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 80/100 74/100 AYI

Percentile Scorecard

AYIZWS

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAYIZWS
Valuation 73 #16 of 56 31 #39 of 56
Growth 80 #11 of 52 98 #2 of 52
Profitability 78 #12 of 51 80 #11 of 51
Financial Health 88 #8 of 58 90 #7 of 58
Shareholder Returns 83 #8 of 41 73 #12 of 41
Overall 80 74
  • AYI ranked among 60 companies in Construction Products
  • ZWS ranked among 60 companies in Construction Products

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAYIZWSSPY
1 month -0.3%+5.7% -0.8%
3 months -5.1%+1.1% +3.5%
6 months +9.2%-6.6% +7.0%
Year to date -11.5%+6.1% +12.2%
1 year -13.4%+6.4% +13.0%
3 years +101.4%+91.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year +26.3%+24.2% +23.1%
5 years +56.8%+37.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year +9.4%+6.5% +11.0%
10 years +37.8%+418.0% +258.0%
10 years, per year +3.3%+17.9% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAYIZWSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 38.0%27.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 41.6%23.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.400.89 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.350.23 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.7%-47.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -15.4%-7.3% -1.8%
52-week high $376.69$53.17 $779.14
52-week low $257.79$43.70 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAYIZWS
P/E now vs peer median 18.2xmedian 19.4x 29.8xmedian 19.4x
P/S now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 1.5x 4.6xmedian 1.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.9xmedian 12.1x 18.2xmedian 12.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 12.7xmedian 16.1x 21.6xmedian 16.1x
P/B now vs peer median 3.2xmedian 2.9x 4.9xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 1.10median 0.93 0.39median 0.93

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAYIZWS
Revenue $4.64B $1.79B
Gross profit $2.35B $875.60M
Operating income $713.70M $372.30M
Net income $531.30M $276.10M
Free cash flow $747.90M $378.50M
EPS (diluted) $17.06 $1.64
Cash & equivalents $636.30M $365.00M
Total debt $697.40M $499.10M
Shares (diluted) 31.15M 168.78M
Enterprise value $8.12B $7.02B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAYIZWS
P/E 18.2x 29.8x
P/FCF 12.7x 21.6x
P/Operating cash flow 11.5x 20.4x
P/S 2.0x 4.6x
P/B 3.2x 4.9x
P/Tangible book 4.8x 9.6x
EV/EBITDA 10.9x 18.2x
EV/EBIT 13.3x 22.4x
EV/Revenue 2.1x 4.7x
EV/FCF 12.7x 22.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 11.5x 20.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.10 0.39

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAYIZWS
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.8% 10.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 5.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 13.1% 19.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.1% 15.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 26.6% 42.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 14.7% 51.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 34.0% 58.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 15.4% 73.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 36.1% 59.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 16.6% 76.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 37.3% 30.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 25.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 40.3% 34.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.5% 27.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAYIZWS
Gross margin 50.6% 49.0%
EBITDA margin 18.7% 25.7%
Operating margin 15.4% 20.8%
Pretax margin 14.7% 20.1%
Net margin 11.4% 15.5%
FCF margin 16.1% 21.2%
Operating cash flow margin 17.8% 22.5%
Return on equity 18.2% 16.9%
Return on assets 11.2% 10.1%
Return on invested capital 15.4% 13.3%
Return on capital employed 19.5% 15.4%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 2.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAYIZWS
Debt / assets 14.3% 17.9%
Debt / equity 0.2x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.1x 0.3x
Debt / FCF 0.9x 1.3x
Liabilities / assets 39.0% 40.3%
Equity / assets 61.0% 59.7%
Interest coverage – 14.4x
Current ratio 1.7x 3.1x
Quick ratio 1.2x 2.0x
Cash ratio 0.6x 1.2x
Altman Z-score 5.99 5.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAYIZWS
Dividend yield 0.3% 0.9%
Net buyback yield 3.0% 1.7%
Shareholder yield 3.2% 2.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) 4.5% 25.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) 3.2% 18.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) 15.5% 18.9%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 12.3% 12.5%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAYIZWS
Forward P/E 15.9xFY2027 26.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $20.01FY2027 $1.87FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +0.6%FY2027 +23.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.7% +3.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.68BFY2027 $1.81BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.9%FY2027 +6.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +14.4% +3.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAYIZWS
Held by institutions 99.2% 88.6%
Institutions holding 631 436
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.1% +0.9%
Institutions buying 330 237
Institutions selling 190 144
Buyers to sellers 1.74 1.65

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AYIZWS
AYI 1.00 0.40
ZWS 0.40 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AYI and ZWS?

Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) $9.82B, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) $8.22B.

Which stock is cheaper, AYI and ZWS?

Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) 18.5x, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) 29.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) is cheapest (Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) 15.9x, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) 26.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) +6.8%, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) +10.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) has the highest net margin (Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) 11.4%, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) 15.5%). On return on invested capital, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) leads (Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) 15.4%, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) 13.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) returned the most: Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) -13.4%, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) +6.4%. Over five years, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) compounded fastest (Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) +9.4%/yr, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) +6.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) has the highest dividend yield: Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) 0.00%, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) 0.01%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) has been the steadiest (Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) 38.0%, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) 27.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do AYI and ZWS move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.40, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, AYI and ZWS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.