Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) Short Interest Update

Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,659,640 shares, a growth of 26.7% from the November 30th total of 3,677,929 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,552,349 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,552,349 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLTO opened at $101.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.57. Veralto has a one year low of $83.86 and a one year high of $110.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s fifty day moving average is $100.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.01.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. Veralto had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Veralto has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.820-3.850 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.950-0.980 EPS. Analysts forecast that Veralto will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Veralto’s payout ratio is 14.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLTO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Veralto from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Veralto from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Veralto in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Veralto from $112.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Veralto from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.89.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mattias Bystrom sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.73, for a total transaction of $101,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 31,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,197,373.90. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veralto

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Veralto during the second quarter worth $264,150,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Veralto by 28.0% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,235,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,656,000 after buying an additional 1,363,502 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Veralto by 6,015.1% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,347,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,045,000 after buying an additional 1,325,609 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Veralto by 86.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,157,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,615,000 after buying an additional 997,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Veralto by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,058,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,311,135,000 after acquiring an additional 852,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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. This segment provides water solutions, including chemical reagents, services, and digital solutions.