SMID vs URI vs AYI Stock Comparison

Smith Midland, United Rentals and Acuity Inc. (De) Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SMID Smith Midland Corp
$21.49 -10.9% 1M -44.4% 1Y
Market cap
$114.05M
P/E
14.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$89.50M
Div. yield
–
Building Products Industrials
3 wins
URI United Rentals, Inc.
$1,174.94 +12.5% 1M +34.2% 1Y
Market cap
$72.84B
P/E
25.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.50B
Div. yield
0.66%
Equipment Rental Industrials
6 wins
AYI Acuity Inc. (De)
$316.80 +3.6% 1M -12.7% 1Y
Market cap
$9.41B
P/E
18.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.64B
Div. yield
0.25%
Building Products Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

United Rentals leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (United Rentals 6, Smith Midland 3, Acuity Inc. (De) 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSMIDURIAYILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $114.05M $72.84B $9.41B URI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 14.8x 25.6x 18.1x SMID
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 21.3x 15.8x AYI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -1.6% +9.4% +6.8% URI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.6% 16.3% 11.4% URI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.8% 14.0% 15.4% AYI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.5x 2.3x 0.1x SMID
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.66% 0.25% URI
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -44.4% +34.2% -12.7% URI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.4%/yr +25.4%/yr +9.1%/yr URI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 51.0% 42.2% 38.0% AYI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 82/100 55/100 82/100 SMID

Percentile Scorecard

SMIDURIAYI

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

AxisSMIDURIAYI
Valuation 83 #10 of 55 20 #37 of 46 74 #15 of 55
Growth 82 #10 of 51 90 #5 of 39 84 #9 of 51
Profitability 70 #15 of 48 92 #4 of 39 79 #11 of 48
Financial Health 93 #5 of 54 20 #38 of 47 89 #7 of 54
Shareholder Returns – 52 #16 of 32 83 #8 of 41
Overall 82 55 82
  • SMID ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products
  • URI ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • AYI ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSMIDURIAYISPY
1 month -10.9%+12.5%+3.6% +0.9%
3 months -26.5%+11.3%-5.1% +5.9%
6 months -35.2%+23.4%+10.8% +8.5%
Year to date -40.9%+45.2%-12.0% +13.3%
1 year -44.4%+34.2%-12.7% +12.4%
3 years +10.9%+194.5%+100.1% +88.1%
3 years, per year +3.5%+43.4%+26.0% +23.5%
5 years +7.5%+209.9%+54.2% +68.2%
5 years, per year +1.4%+25.4%+9.1% +11.0%
10 years +498.6%+1,458.5%+42.0% +263.4%
10 years, per year +19.6%+31.6%+3.6% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureSMIDURIAYISPY
Volatility, 1Y 51.0%42.2%38.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.6%39.0%41.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.981.041.40 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.870.81-0.34 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -72.4%-40.0%-34.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -46.0%0.0%-15.9% -0.9%
52-week high $39.82$1,174.94$376.69 $779.14
52-week low $21.20$710.47$257.79 $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.

MultipleSMIDURIAYI
P/E now vs peer median 14.8xmedian 20.0x 25.6xmedian 25.6x 18.1xmedian 20.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 1.5x 4.2xmedian 1.1x 2.0xmedian 1.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 7.5xmedian 11.3x 13.8xmedian 13.3x 10.9xmedian 11.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 27.4xmedian 15.3x 81.7xmedian 22.0x 12.6xmedian 15.3x
P/B now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 2.8x 7.5xmedian 2.6x 3.2xmedian 2.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.11median 0.99 2.68median 2.36 1.09median 0.99

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 monthsSMIDURIAYI
Revenue $89.50M $17.50B $4.64B
Gross profit $21.00M $6.84B $2.35B
Operating income $10.80M $4.47B $713.70M
Net income $7.73M $2.86B $531.30M
Free cash flow $4.17M $892.00M $747.90M
EPS (diluted) $1.46 $45.89 $17.06
Cash & equivalents $10.66M $153.00M $636.30M
Total debt $17.45M $14.67B $697.40M
Shares (diluted) 5.31M 62.26M 31.15M
Enterprise value $64.91M $71.96B $7.71B

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
MetricSMIDURIAYI
P/E 14.8x 25.6x 18.1x
P/FCF 27.4x 81.7x 12.6x
P/Operating cash flow 7.8x 11.8x 11.4x
P/S 1.3x 4.2x 2.0x
P/B 2.0x 7.5x 3.2x
P/Tangible book 3.6x 7.9x 4.8x
EV/EBITDA 7.5x 13.8x 10.9x
EV/EBIT 10.0x 19.6x 13.3x
EV/Revenue 1.2x 5.0x 2.0x
EV/FCF 25.8x 97.9x 12.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.4x 14.1x 11.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.11 2.68 1.09

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSMIDURIAYI
Revenue growth (1Y) -1.6% 9.4% 6.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 18.4% 8.0% 5.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -18.4% 10.4% 13.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 35.0% 6.0% 11.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -30.8% 11.5% 26.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 134.1% 5.7% 14.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -49.1% 12.9% 34.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 136.0% 6.2% 15.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -35.9% 16.6% 36.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 135.4% 9.5% 16.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 92.5% 24.2% 37.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 97.2% 10.9% 12.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 459.8% 98.2% 40.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 38.5% 83.7% 13.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSMIDURIAYI
Gross margin 23.5% 39.1% 50.6%
EBITDA margin 16.1% 36.1% 18.7%
Operating margin 12.1% 25.5% 15.4%
Pretax margin 12.0% 21.8% 14.7%
Net margin 8.6% 16.3% 11.4%
FCF margin 4.7% 5.1% 16.1%
Operating cash flow margin 16.3% 35.4% 17.8%
Return on equity 13.7% 30.2% 18.2%
Return on assets 8.6% 8.9% 11.2%
Return on invested capital 12.8% 14.0% 15.4%
Return on capital employed 13.8% 16.5% 19.5%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.5x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 2.2x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.1% 0.9% 1.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSMIDURIAYI
Debt / assets 4.8% 44.7% 14.3%
Debt / equity 0.1x 1.5x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.5x 2.3x 0.1x
Debt / FCF 1.0x 16.4x 0.9x
Liabilities / assets 34.2% 70.4% 39.0%
Equity / assets 65.8% 29.6% 61.0%
Interest coverage 48.9x – –
Current ratio 4.1x 0.8x 1.7x
Quick ratio 3.1x 0.6x 1.2x
Cash ratio 0.9x 0.0x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 5.03 3.59 5.97

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSMIDURIAYI
Dividend yield – 0.7% 0.3%
Net buyback yield – 2.5% 3.0%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 3.2% 3.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 4.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 3.2%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 15.5%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 12.3%

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.

ConsensusSMIDURIAYI
Forward P/E – 21.3xFY2026 15.8xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year – $55.27FY2026 $20.01FY2027
EPS growth, next FY – +31.4%FY2026 +0.6%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after – +6.3% +21.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $18.69BFY2026 $4.68BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY – +16.1%FY2026 +0.9%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after – +3.1% +14.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSMIDURIAYI
Held by institutions 57.0% 95.9% 99.2%
Institutions holding 56 1,587 631
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.1% +4.7% +4.1%
Institutions buying 23 804 330
Institutions selling 17 537 190
Buyers to sellers 1.35 1.50 1.74

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.

SMIDURIAYI
SMID 1.00 0.19 0.17
URI 0.19 1.00 0.26
AYI 0.17 0.26 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SMID, URI and AYI?

United Rentals (URI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Smith Midland (SMID) $114.05M, United Rentals (URI) $72.84B, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) $9.41B.

Which stock is cheaper, SMID, URI and AYI?

Smith Midland (SMID) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Smith Midland (SMID) 14.8x, United Rentals (URI) 25.6x, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) 18.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) is cheapest (United Rentals (URI) 21.3x, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) 15.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

United Rentals (URI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Smith Midland (SMID) -1.6%, United Rentals (URI) +9.4%, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) +6.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

United Rentals (URI) has the highest net margin (Smith Midland (SMID) 8.6%, United Rentals (URI) 16.3%, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) 11.4%). On return on invested capital, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) leads (Smith Midland (SMID) 12.8%, United Rentals (URI) 14.0%, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) 15.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year United Rentals (URI) returned the most: Smith Midland (SMID) -44.4%, United Rentals (URI) +34.2%, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) -12.7%. Over five years, United Rentals (URI) compounded fastest (Smith Midland (SMID) +1.4%/yr, United Rentals (URI) +25.4%/yr, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) +9.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

United Rentals (URI) has the highest dividend yield: Smith Midland (SMID) 0.00%, United Rentals (URI) 0.66%, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) 0.25%. Smith Midland (SMID) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) has been the steadiest (Smith Midland (SMID) 51.0%, United Rentals (URI) 42.2%, Acuity Inc. (De) (AYI) 38.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SMID, URI and AYI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, United Rentals (URI) leads on 6. 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.