FERG vs VLTO vs AIT Stock Comparison

Ferguson Enterprises, Veralto and Applied Industrial Technologies Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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VLTO Veralto Corp
$117.02 +21.3% 1M +17.5% 1Y
Market cap
$28.94B
P/E
28.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.80B
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Applied Industrial Technologies leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Applied Industrial Technologies 4, Veralto 4, Ferguson Enterprises 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFERGVLTOAITLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $46.86B $28.94B $10.86B FERG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.1x 28.9x 25.6x FERG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.3x 25.8x 23.2x AIT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.2% +6.4% +8.5% AIT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.5% 17.3% 8.4% VLTO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 21.7% 17.1% 20.0% FERG
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.0x 0.8x 0.3x AIT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +1.5% +17.5% +16.3% VLTO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +10.2%/yr — +23.7%/yr AIT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.2% 24.4% 28.1% VLTO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 75/100 66/100 VLTO

Percentile Scorecard

FERGVLTOAIT

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

AxisFERGVLTOAIT
Valuation 38 #29 of 46 79 #5 of 20 18 #38 of 46
Growth 71 #12 of 39 71 #6 of 18 50 #20 of 39
Profitability 88 #6 of 41 100 #1 of 17 95 #3 of 41
Financial Health 50 #25 of 49 55 #10 of 21 90 #6 of 49
Shareholder Returns 73 #10 of 34 73 #4 of 12 79 #8 of 34
Overall 64 75 66
  • FERG ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • VLTO ranked among 21 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • AIT ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodFERGVLTOAITSPY
1 month +11.4%+21.3%-13.8% -1.0%
3 months -2.6%+20.5%-16.7% -0.4%
6 months -1.4%+34.7%-5.4% +4.5%
Year to date +11.6%+17.3%+16.2% +12.4%
1 year +1.5%+17.5%+16.3% +13.6%
3 years +58.0%+65.3%+89.9% +76.4%
3 years, per year +16.5%+18.2%+23.8% +20.8%
5 years +62.4%—+189.2% +63.7%
5 years, per year +10.2%—+23.7% +10.4%
10 years +381.2%—+506.3% +267.7%
10 years, per year +17.0%—+19.8% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureFERGVLTOAITSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.2%24.4%28.1% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.9%21.9%31.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.100.150.80 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.050.710.58 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -43.6%-27.6%-26.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.2%0.0%-17.6% -1.6%
52-week high $267.71$117.02$362.17 $779.14
52-week low $214.24$82.23$240.63 $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.

MultipleFERGVLTOAIT
P/E now vs peer median 23.8xmedian 25.1x 28.5xmedian 28.5x 25.8xmedian 25.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.1x 4.9xmedian 2.6x 2.2xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.1xmedian 13.2x 21.7xmedian 21.7x 17.6xmedian 13.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.3xmedian 20.8x 26.1xmedian 25.6x 25.8xmedian 20.8x
P/B now vs peer median 8.2xmedian 2.5x 8.8xmedian 2.0x 5.8xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median —median 2.23 5.11median 1.79 3.57median 2.23

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 monthsFERGVLTOAIT
Revenue $31.35B $5.80B $5.06B
Gross profit $9.73B $3.49B $1.54B
Operating income $2.82B $1.27B $564.03M
Net income $2.03B $1.00B $424.12M
Free cash flow $2.26B $1.09B $421.86M
R&D – $278.00M –
EPS (diluted) $10.42 $4.08 $11.41
Cash & equivalents $820.00M $1.79B –
Total debt $4.13B $2.92B $282.30M
Shares (diluted) 194.80M 245.30M 37.18M
Enterprise value $44.08B $21.57B $10.75B

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
MetricFERGVLTOAIT
P/E 23.8x 28.5x 25.8x
P/FCF 21.3x 26.1x 25.8x
P/Operating cash flow 18.4x 24.6x 24.1x
P/S 1.5x 4.9x 2.2x
P/B 8.2x 8.8x 5.8x
P/Tangible book 9.2x 11.8x 6.9x
EV/EBITDA 16.1x 21.7x 17.6x
EV/EBIT 18.3x 23.4x 19.6x
EV/Revenue 1.6x 5.1x 2.2x
EV/FCF 22.8x 27.1x 26.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.7x 25.6x 24.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 5.11 3.57

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFERGVLTOAIT
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.2% 6.4% 8.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 5.2% 4.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.5% 6.7% 8.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 6.8% 5.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.6% -0.2% 9.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 3.3% 5.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 31.6% 9.7% 5.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 5.4% 5.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 34.4% 12.1% 8.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 5.6% 7.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 35.9% 10.0% -6.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 3.7% 5.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 42.8% 10.9% -7.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 3.1% 5.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFERGVLTOAIT
Gross margin 31.0% 60.2% 30.4%
EBITDA margin 10.2% 23.6% 12.4%
Operating margin 9.0% 21.8% 11.2%
Pretax margin 8.3% 20.3% 11.0%
Net margin 6.5% 17.3% 8.4%
FCF margin 7.2% 18.8% 8.3%
Operating cash flow margin 8.3% 19.9% 8.9%
Return on equity 34.0% 31.7% 22.6%
Return on assets 11.4% 11.9% 14.2%
Return on invested capital 21.7% 17.1% 20.0%
Return on capital employed 23.4% 18.8% 22.9%
Asset turnover 1.8x 0.7x 1.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.2x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 1.3% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFERGVLTOAIT
Debt / assets 23.2% 35.5% 9.5%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.9x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.0x 0.8x 0.3x
Debt / FCF 1.8x 2.7x 0.7x
Liabilities / assets 67.0% 60.7% 36.8%
Equity / assets 33.0% 39.3% 63.2%
Interest coverage – 13.2x –
Current ratio 1.8x 2.0x 2.9x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.7x 1.7x
Cash ratio 0.1x 1.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 5.60 5.29 10.03

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFERGVLTOAIT
Dividend yield 1.4% 0.4% 0.7%
Net buyback yield 1.7% 1.8% 3.2%
Shareholder yield 3.2% 2.2% 3.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 17.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 17.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 10.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 11.1%

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.

ConsensusFERGVLTOAIT
Forward P/E 23.3xFY2026 25.8xFY2026 23.2xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $10.68FY2026 $4.54FY2026 $12.83FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +7.4%FY2026 +16.4%FY2026 +17.2%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +20.5% +7.9% +7.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $34.30BFY2026 $5.70BFY2026 $4.91BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +11.5%FY2026 +3.7%FY2026 -1.1%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after -0.7% +16.5% +5.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFERGVLTOAIT
Held by institutions 96.3% 96.1% 94.4%
Institutions holding 940 977 619
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.1% +3.3% +1.3%
Institutions buying 479 399 328
Institutions selling 344 386 207
Buyers to sellers 1.39 1.03 1.58

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.

FERGVLTOAIT
FERG 1.00 0.21 0.53
VLTO 0.21 1.00 0.02
AIT 0.53 0.02 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FERG, VLTO and AIT?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) $46.86B, Veralto (VLTO) $28.94B, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) $10.86B.

Which stock is cheaper, FERG, VLTO and AIT?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 23.1x, Veralto (VLTO) 28.9x, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 25.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) is cheapest (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 23.3x, Veralto (VLTO) 25.8x, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 23.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +5.2%, Veralto (VLTO) +6.4%, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +8.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Veralto (VLTO) has the highest net margin (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 6.5%, Veralto (VLTO) 17.3%, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 8.4%). On return on invested capital, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) leads (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.7%, Veralto (VLTO) 17.1%, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 20.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Veralto (VLTO) returned the most: Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +1.5%, Veralto (VLTO) +17.5%, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +16.3%. Over five years, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) compounded fastest (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +10.2%/yr, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +23.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 0.00%, Veralto (VLTO) 0.00%, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 0.01%. Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) and Veralto (VLTO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Veralto (VLTO) has been the steadiest (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 30.2%, Veralto (VLTO) 24.4%, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 28.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, FERG, VLTO and AIT?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) leads on 4. 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.