Veralto vs Waters
VLTO and WAT side by side, both in laboratory apparatus and analytical, optical, measuring, and controlling instruments. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How VLTO and WAT compare
Waters is the larger company, worth 1.7 times as much as Veralto ($45.5B against $27.1B).
On earnings, Veralto is cheaper: it trades at 28.1× trailing earnings, against 115× for Waters.
Waters grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (52.5% versus 6.2% for Veralto).
Veralto keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 17.3% compared with 3.6% at Waters.
Veralto pays a dividend yielding 0.47%; Waters does not pay one.
Veralto scores higher on the StockData Score (16 against 9 for Waters), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | VLTO | WAT |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $27.1B | $45.5B |
| Share price | $111.10 | $462.72 |
| Change, 1 year | 11.7% | 34.7% |
| Change, 5 years | – | 34.9% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.65 | 0.93 |
| Employees | 17K | 7,600 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 16 (better) | 9 |
| Valuation score | 2 (better) | 1 |
| Growth score | 2 | 2 |
| Performance score | 5 (better) | 2 |
| Health score | 4 | 4 |
| Dividend score | 3 (better) | 0 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 28.1× (better) | 115× |
| P/S | 4.8× (better) | 9.8× |
| P/B | 8.7× | 3.0× (better) |
| EV/EBITDA | 20.4× (better) | 151× |
| P/FCF | 25.9× | – |
| PEG | 9.02 | – |
| FCF yield | 3.9% | – |
| Fair value | $120.80 | $87.10 |
| Margin of safety | 8.0% (better) | −431% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 6.2% | 52.5% (better) |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | – | 6.0% |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 10.6% (better) | −74.9% |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 10.6% (better) | −63.8% |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | – | 5.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 60.2% | – |
| Operating margin | 22.7% (better) | 7.1% |
| Net margin | 17.3% (better) | 3.6% |
| FCF margin | 18.4% | – |
| Return on equity | 34.4% (better) | 1.9% |
| Return on invested capital | 26.1% (better) | 2.4% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 1.09 | 0.32 (better) |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.91 (better) | 13.19 |
| Interest coverage | 14.1× (better) | 2.2× |
| Current ratio | 1.78 | 1.86 (better) |
| Altman Z-score | 4.72 (better) | 3.76 |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 (better) | 4 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 0.47% | – |
| Payout ratio | 12.0% | – |
| Buyback yield | – | 0.03% |
| Shareholder yield | 0.47% (better) | 0.03% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 97.5% | 101% |
| Held by insiders | 0.22% | 0.10% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$3.1M | −$992K (better) |
| Superinvestors holding | 2 | 3 (better) |
| Short interest, % of float | 2.6% | 3.5% |
Go deeper
- VLTO stock overview
- VLTO income statement
- VLTO valuation and score
- WAT stock overview
- WAT income statement
- WAT valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.