Short Interest in Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) Expands By 26.7%

Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in 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. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,552,349 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,552,349 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Veralto

In related news, SVP Mattias Bystrom sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.73, for a total transaction of $101,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,197,373.90. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Veralto in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in Veralto during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 852.9% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veralto Stock Performance

Shares of VLTO traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $99.71. 839,004 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,673,881. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.76 billion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.87. Veralto has a 52-week low of $83.86 and a 52-week high of $110.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. Veralto’s quarterly 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veralto will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.13 dividend. This is a boost from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Veralto’s payout ratio is presently 12.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Veralto from $112.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Veralto from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Veralto from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Veralto from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Veralto from $123.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.89.

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.