Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Stock Rating Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on VLTO. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Veralto from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Veralto from $102.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Veralto from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $111.00 price target on Veralto in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Veralto in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.50.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of VLTO stock opened at $94.89 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $96.67 and its 200 day moving average is $91.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.62. Veralto has a twelve month low of $80.03 and a twelve month high of $107.90.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. Veralto had a net margin of 17.35% and a return on equity of 34.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Veralto has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.350-4.430 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.090 EPS. Research analysts expect that Veralto will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 7,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.52, for a total transaction of $720,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 124,085 shares in the company, valued at $12,597,109.20. This represents a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total transaction of $95,691.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $831,233.25. The trade was a 10.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 15,180 shares of company stock valued at $1,490,394 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veralto

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Veralto during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto during the first quarter valued at $66,000. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto during the first quarter valued at $83,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new stake in Veralto in the 1st quarter worth about $96,000. Finally, Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS bought a new stake in Veralto in the 1st quarter worth about $104,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Veralto

Veralto Corporation (NYSE: VLTO) is a global provider of products, services and technology focused on water analytics and product quality and innovation. The company was formed in 2023 through the separation of certain operating companies from Danaher Corporation and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Veralto’s Water Analytics segment provides equipment, software and services used to monitor, analyze and manage water and wastewater. Its brands include Hach, Trojan Technologies, ChemTreat and OTT HydroMet, which serve municipal, industrial and environmental applications such as water quality testing, disinfection, treatment and hydrology.

The company’s Product Quality and Innovation segment helps manufacturers and consumer-goods companies manage production quality, packaging, coding, marking and product identification.