Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Stock Price

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) had its price objective lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $116.00 to $110.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Veralto from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veralto presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.55.

Veralto Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of VLTO opened at $98.47 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $24.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $103.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.31. Veralto has a 12-month low of $79.43 and a 12-month high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 52.85%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Veralto will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.11 dividend. 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 an increase from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Veralto’s payout ratio is currently 13.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veralto

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veralto in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Veralto by 692.3% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in shares of Veralto by 2,100.0% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Veralto during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.