Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Earnings Beat

Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $92.66 and last traded at $92.48, with a volume of 192155 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.23.

The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Veralto’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLTO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Veralto from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Veralto from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Argus started coverage on Veralto in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Veralto from $78.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Veralto in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.36.

Insider Transactions at Veralto

In other news, insider Mattias Bystrom sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total transaction of $43,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,609,691. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veralto

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLTO. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. purchased a new stake in Veralto during the 4th quarter worth about $1,732,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veralto during the 4th quarter worth about $117,000. Park National Corp OH purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,243,000. M&R Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at about $285,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89.

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.