Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,706,890 shares, a drop of 16.1% from the February 26th total of 4,417,712 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,566,483 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VLTO shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Veralto in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Veralto from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Veralto in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $108.00 price objective on Veralto in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $117.00 target price on shares of Veralto in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.78.

Veralto Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:VLTO traded down $0.35 on Wednesday, reaching $88.08. 162,653 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,977,696. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Veralto has a 1-year low of $83.86 and a 1-year high of $110.11. The company’s 50 day moving average is $93.50 and its 200-day moving average is $98.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.89.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.06. Veralto had a net margin of 17.08% and a return on equity of 35.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Veralto has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.970-1.010 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Veralto will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Veralto during the third quarter valued at about $6,708,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its holdings in Veralto by 6.3% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 380,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,609,000 after purchasing an additional 22,464 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its position in Veralto by 1,579.5% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 12,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 11,578 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veralto in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,919,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Veralto by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,159,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,605,000 after buying an additional 94,607 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veralto Company Profile

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. This segment provides water solutions, including chemical reagents, services, and digital solutions.