Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $112.55.

Several research firms have weighed in on VLTO. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Veralto in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th.

Veralto Stock Performance

NYSE VLTO opened at $98.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.29 billion, a PE ratio of 29.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.69. Veralto has a 1-year low of $85.70 and a 1-year high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 16.04%. On average, research analysts predict that Veralto will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. This is a boost from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Veralto’s payout ratio is presently 13.17%.

Insider Activity at Veralto

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $46,114.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,761 shares in the company, valued at $2,067,795.60. The trade was a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veralto

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in Veralto by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 20,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in Veralto by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Veralto by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Veralto by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its position in Veralto by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

About Veralto

Veralto Corporation provides water analytics, water treatment, marking and coding, and packaging and color services worldwide. It operates through two segments, Water Quality (WQ) and Product Quality & Innovation (PQI). The WQ segment offers precision instrumentation and water treatment technologies to measure, analyze, and treat water in residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, research, and natural resource applications through the Hach, Trojan Technologies, and ChemTreat brands.