AWK vs PNR vs VLTO Stock Comparison

American Water Works Company, Pentair and Veralto Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PNR PENTAIR plc
$55.24 +2.9% 1M -49.7% 1Y
Market cap
$10.05B
P/E
15.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.01B
Div. yield
0.02%
Pumps and Valves Industrials
2 wins
VLTO Veralto Corp
$103.34 +6.4% 1M -1.3% 1Y
Market cap
$25.28B
P/E
25.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.70B
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

American Water Works Company leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (American Water Works Company 7, Veralto 3, Pentair 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAWKPNRVLTOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $27.67B $10.05B $25.28B AWK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.5x 15.4x 25.6x PNR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.8x 12.1x 22.8x PNR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.9% -2.1% +6.2% AWK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.3% 16.2% 17.3% AWK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.2% 12.6% 17.4% VLTO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.5x 1.6x 0.9x VLTO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.02% 0.00% AWK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +0.1% -49.7% -1.3% AWK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.9%/yr -5.5%/yr — AWK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.8% 34.0% 23.5% AWK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 66/100 75/100 VLTO

Percentile Scorecard

AWKPNRVLTO

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAWKPNRVLTO
Valuation 8 #62 of 67 84 #34 of 203 80 #5 of 21
Growth 59 #27 of 65 38 #116 of 187 72 #6 of 19
Profitability 95 #4 of 64 86 #27 of 185 100 #1 of 17
Financial Health 49 #33 of 64 43 #125 of 219 52 #11 of 22
Shareholder Returns 58 #29 of 67 81 #30 of 153 70 #4 of 11
Overall 54 66 75
  • AWK ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • PNR ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • VLTO ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAWKPNRVLTOSPY
1 month +8.2%+2.9%+6.4% -0.8%
3 months +5.3%-12.5%+9.6% +3.5%
6 months +7.4%-40.1%+18.6% +7.0%
Year to date +8.6%-47.0%+3.6% +12.2%
1 year +0.1%-49.7%-1.3% +13.0%
3 years +21.7%-4.2%+52.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year +6.8%-1.4%+15.0% +23.1%
5 years -18.2%-24.7%— +68.6%
5 years, per year -3.9%-5.5%— +11.0%
10 years +95.4%-0.3%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +6.9%0.0%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAWKPNRVLTOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.8%34.0%23.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.2%40.2%22.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.460.900.23 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.00-1.46-0.05 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.7%-53.7%-27.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.1%-49.4%-1.5% -1.8%
52-week high $143.25$109.13$104.87 $779.14
52-week low $121.13$52.11$82.23 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAWKPNRVLTO
P/E now vs peer median 24.6xmedian 20.8x 13.6xmedian 26.0x 25.6xmedian 25.6x
P/S now vs peer median 5.3xmedian 2.9x 2.2xmedian 1.9x 4.4xmedian 2.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 13.1x 11.1xmedian 14.0x 19.1xmedian 19.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -27.3xmedian 36.7x 13.1xmedian 21.4x 24.1xmedian 25.2x
P/B now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 1.7x 2.4xmedian 2.2x 8.1xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 3.13median 2.23 1.27median 1.26 5.72median 1.54

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAWKPNRVLTO
Revenue $5.28B $4.01B $5.70B
Gross profit – $1.66B $3.43B
Operating income $1.95B $813.20M $1.30B
Net income $1.13B $651.40M $988.00M
Free cash flow -$1.03B $673.00M $1.05B
R&D – $95.40M $276.00M
EPS (diluted) $5.76 $4.03 $4.02
Cash & equivalents $191.00M $91.80M $2.12B
Total debt $15.99B $1.61B $3.38B
Shares (diluted) 196.00M 161.60M 245.80M
Enterprise value $27.08B $9.66B $17.92B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAWKPNRVLTO
P/E 24.6x 13.6x 25.6x
P/FCF -27.3x 13.1x 24.1x
P/Operating cash flow 12.1x 11.7x 22.9x
P/S 5.3x 2.2x 4.4x
P/B 2.4x 2.4x 8.1x
P/Tangible book 2.4x 3.3x 11.1x
EV/EBITDA 15.2x 11.1x 19.1x
EV/EBIT 22.5x 12.7x 20.5x
EV/Revenue 8.3x 2.6x 4.7x
EV/FCF -42.7x 15.4x 25.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.8x 13.7x 24.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.13 1.27 5.72

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAWKPNRVLTO
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.9% -2.1% 6.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.3% -1.3% 4.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 1.7% 6.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 4.5% 6.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.3% 2.2% 3.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 7.7% 3.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 4.2% 6.9% 10.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.1% 9.7% 4.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 3.6% 9.6% 12.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.9% 10.7% 4.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.7% -16.8% 9.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.8% 12.5% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -13.4% -19.6% 11.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.5% 14.6% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAWKPNRVLTO
Gross margin – 41.3% 60.2%
EBITDA margin 54.6% 23.3% 24.4%
Operating margin 36.9% 20.3% 22.7%
Pretax margin 27.3% 18.4% 21.2%
Net margin 21.3% 16.2% 17.3%
FCF margin -19.5% 16.8% 18.4%
Operating cash flow margin 44.2% 18.7% 19.4%
Return on equity 9.9% 17.2% 32.4%
Return on assets 3.1% 9.5% 12.2%
Return on invested capital 6.2% 12.6% 17.4%
Return on capital employed 6.0% 13.7% 21.4%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.6x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x 1.2x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.9% 1.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAWKPNRVLTO
Debt / assets 43.9% 23.9% 39.5%
Debt / equity 1.4x 0.4x 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.5x 1.6x 0.9x
Debt / FCF -15.5x 2.4x 3.2x
Liabilities / assets 68.0% 44.1% 63.8%
Equity / assets 32.0% 55.9% 36.2%
Interest coverage 3.0x – 14.1x
Current ratio 0.5x 1.5x 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.3x 0.7x 1.5x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x 1.0x
Altman Z-score 1.06 3.49 4.52

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAWKPNRVLTO
Dividend yield 2.4% 2.0% 0.5%
Net buyback yield – 5.1% 1.7%
Shareholder yield 2.4% 7.0% 2.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 58.3% 26.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) -63.9% 25.2% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 8.0% 6.9% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.9% 6.2% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAWKPNRVLTO
Forward P/E 24.8xFY2026 12.1xFY2026 22.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.72FY2026 $4.55FY2026 $4.54FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +0.5%FY2026 -7.5%FY2026 +16.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.8% +17.6% +7.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.14BFY2026 $3.86BFY2026 $5.70BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.0%FY2026 -7.5%FY2026 +3.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +9.9% +10.5% +16.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAWKPNRVLTO
Held by institutions 100.0% 95.0% 96.1%
Institutions holding 1,128 719 974
Change in shares held, QoQ +8.0% -0.1% +3.3%
Institutions buying 530 353 399
Institutions selling 416 256 384
Buyers to sellers 1.27 1.38 1.04

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AWKPNRVLTO
AWK 1.00 0.22 0.27
PNR 0.22 1.00 0.39
VLTO 0.27 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AWK, PNR and VLTO?

American Water Works Company (AWK) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Water Works Company (AWK) $27.67B, Pentair (PNR) $10.05B, Veralto (VLTO) $25.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, AWK, PNR and VLTO?

Pentair (PNR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Water Works Company (AWK) 24.5x, Pentair (PNR) 15.4x, Veralto (VLTO) 25.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Pentair (PNR) is cheapest (American Water Works Company (AWK) 24.8x, Pentair (PNR) 12.1x, Veralto (VLTO) 22.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

American Water Works Company (AWK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Water Works Company (AWK) +6.9%, Pentair (PNR) -2.1%, Veralto (VLTO) +6.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Water Works Company (AWK) has the highest net margin (American Water Works Company (AWK) 21.3%, Pentair (PNR) 16.2%, Veralto (VLTO) 17.3%). On return on invested capital, Veralto (VLTO) leads (American Water Works Company (AWK) 6.2%, Pentair (PNR) 12.6%, Veralto (VLTO) 17.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Water Works Company (AWK) returned the most: American Water Works Company (AWK) +0.1%, Pentair (PNR) -49.7%, Veralto (VLTO) -1.3%. Over five years, American Water Works Company (AWK) compounded fastest (American Water Works Company (AWK) -3.9%/yr, Pentair (PNR) -5.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

American Water Works Company (AWK) has the highest dividend yield: American Water Works Company (AWK) 0.02%, Pentair (PNR) 0.02%, Veralto (VLTO) 0.00%. Veralto (VLTO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, American Water Works Company (AWK) has been the steadiest (American Water Works Company (AWK) 22.8%, Pentair (PNR) 34.0%, Veralto (VLTO) 23.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AWK, PNR and VLTO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, American Water Works Company (AWK) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.