Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Hits New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Veralto hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $119.03 and last changing hands at $118.41.
• The company beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $1.18 versus $1.09 forecast and revenue of $1.51 billion; revenue increased 7.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: the stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $120.70, with some analysts setting targets as high as $135.

Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $119.03 and last traded at $118.4120, with a volume of 251,859 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $117.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Veralto in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Veralto from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Veralto from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane restated an "outperform" rating and set a $120.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Veralto in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Veralto from $109.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $120.70.

Veralto Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $28.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $99.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.34.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. Veralto had a return on equity of 35.08% and a net margin of 17.27%. Veralto's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Veralto Corporation will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Veralto's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.87%.

Insider Activity at Veralto

In other news, CAO Bernard M. Skeete sold 1,514 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.58, for a total value of $170,446.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,760 shares in the company, valued at $535,880.80. This trade represents a 24.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 7,098 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $745,290.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,606,300. This trade represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,025 shares of company stock valued at $4,977,963. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veralto

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Veralto during the second quarter worth about $235,200,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Veralto by 31.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,150,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $543,817,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472,304 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC grew its holdings in shares of Veralto by 265.0% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 826,232 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,666,000 after acquiring an additional 599,850 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Veralto by 16.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,797,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $335,785,000 after acquiring an additional 531,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,594,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company's stock.

About Veralto

Veralto Corporation NYSE: VLTO is a global provider of technology, products and services that help customers manage water quality and improve the quality, safety and efficiency of packaged goods. The company serves municipal, industrial, commercial and consumer-facing markets through a portfolio of operating businesses.

Veralto's Water Quality segment provides instruments, software and services used to test, monitor and treat water and wastewater. Its brands include Hach, Trojan Technologies and ChemTreat, which support applications such as laboratory and field testing, disinfection, water treatment and industrial water management.

The company's Product Quality & Innovation segment supplies technologies used in product identification, packaging design, color management and quality inspection.

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