J vs STN vs VLTO Stock Comparison

Jacobs Solutions, Stantec and Veralto Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
J Jacobs Solutions Inc.
$150.83 +9.0% 1M -4.7% 1Y
Market cap
$17.95B
P/E
53.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.22B
Div. yield
0.01%
Engineering and Construction Industrials
1 win
STN Stantec Inc
$71.87 +4.6% 1M -36.8% 1Y
Market cap
$8.25B
P/E
12.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.51B
Div. yield
–
Engineering and Construction Industrials
6 wins
VLTO Veralto Corp
$102.84 +6.9% 1M +0.3% 1Y
Market cap
$25.38B
P/E
25.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.70B
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Stantec leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Stantec 6, Veralto 4, Jacobs Solutions 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionJSTNVLTOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.95B $8.25B $25.38B VLTO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 53.1x 12.7x 25.7x STN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.2x 15.6x 22.7x STN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.1% +9.4% +6.2% J
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.4% 6.2% 17.3% VLTO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.8% 37.8% 17.4% STN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.7x 0.0x 0.9x STN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -4.7% -36.8% +0.3% VLTO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.4%/yr +5.4%/yr — STN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.0% 30.4% 23.4% VLTO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 46/100 74/100 74/100 STN

Percentile Scorecard

JSTNVLTO

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

AxisJSTNVLTO
Valuation 39 #32 of 52 92 #5 of 52 80 #5 of 21
Growth 33 #25 of 37 36 #24 of 37 72 #6 of 19
Profitability 53 #18 of 37 92 #4 of 37 100 #1 of 17
Financial Health 45 #32 of 57 84 #10 of 57 57 #10 of 22
Shareholder Returns 60 #11 of 26 68 #9 of 26 63 #4 of 9
Overall 46 74 74
  • J ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • STN ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • 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

PeriodJSTNVLTOSPY
1 month +9.0%+4.6%+6.9% +0.9%
3 months +11.0%+0.3%+4.0% +5.9%
6 months +20.1%-19.7%+14.9% +8.5%
Year to date +13.9%-23.8%+3.1% +13.3%
1 year -4.7%-36.8%+0.3% +12.4%
3 years +39.1%+19.9%+51.3% +88.1%
3 years, per year +11.6%+6.2%+14.8% +23.5%
5 years +29.9%+30.0%— +68.2%
5 years, per year +5.4%+5.4%— +11.0%
10 years +256.8%+225.6%— +263.4%
10 years, per year +13.6%+12.5%— +13.8%

Risk

MeasureJSTNVLTOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.0%30.4%23.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.1%34.5%22.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.780.760.23 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.14-1.210.01 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.8%-41.3%-27.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.8%-36.8%-1.9% -0.9%
52-week high $158.36$113.70$104.87 $779.14
52-week low $107.27$66.69$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.

MultipleJSTNVLTO
P/E now vs peer median 52.5xmedian 27.7x 12.6xmedian 27.7x 25.5xmedian 25.5x
P/S now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 0.8x 0.8xmedian 0.8x 4.4xmedian 2.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.8xmedian 12.4x 5.2xmedian 12.4x 19.0xmedian 19.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 27.4xmedian 23.7x 15.5xmedian 23.7x 24.0xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 5.4xmedian 2.5x 3.4xmedian 2.5x 8.1xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median -2.47median 0.57 0.61median 0.57 5.69median 1.69

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 monthsJSTNVLTO
Revenue $14.22B $10.51B $5.70B
Gross profit $3.14B $4.58B $3.43B
Operating income $649.64M $1.23B $1.30B
Net income $301.35M $536.90M $988.00M
Free cash flow $644.54M $528.58M $1.05B
R&D – – $276.00M
EPS (diluted) $2.85 $5.72 $4.02
Cash & equivalents $1.17B $265.54M $2.12B
Total debt $3.58B $2.38B $3.38B
Shares (diluted) 118.90M 114.07M 245.80M
Enterprise value $12.62B $7.18B $18.02B

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
MetricJSTNVLTO
P/E 52.5x 12.6x 25.5x
P/FCF 27.4x 15.5x 24.0x
P/Operating cash flow 24.0x 17.5x 22.8x
P/S 1.2x 0.8x 4.4x
P/B 5.4x 3.4x 8.1x
P/Tangible book 6.6x 4.1x 11.1x
EV/EBITDA 22.8x 5.2x 19.0x
EV/EBIT 30.9x 6.6x 20.4x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 0.8x 4.6x
EV/FCF 31.1x 15.4x 25.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.3x 17.4x 23.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -2.47 0.61 5.69

Growth

14 metrics
MetricJSTNVLTO
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.1% 9.4% 6.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 28.1% 10.4% 4.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.3% 10.5% 6.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.8% 11.2% 6.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -23.4% 20.5% 3.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 14.0% 16.5% 3.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -40.0% 24.6% 10.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -26.5% 15.4% 4.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -30.4% 24.6% 12.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -21.3% 20.6% 4.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 47.1% -13.0% 9.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -10.7% 15.5% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 56.4% -10.2% 11.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -10.1% 24.6% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricJSTNVLTO
Gross margin 22.1% 43.6% 60.2%
EBITDA margin 6.2% 14.9% 24.4%
Operating margin 4.6% 11.7% 22.7%
Pretax margin 3.6% 11.3% 21.2%
Net margin 2.4% 6.2% 17.3%
FCF margin 4.5% 5.0% 18.4%
Operating cash flow margin 5.2% 4.4% 19.4%
Return on equity 9.2% 36.3% 32.4%
Return on assets 2.5% 15.1% 12.2%
Return on invested capital 5.8% 37.8% 17.4%
Return on capital employed 8.2% 28.3% 21.4%
Asset turnover 1.2x 1.8x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.4x 0.9x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 0.3% 1.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricJSTNVLTO
Debt / assets 30.5% 3.9% 39.5%
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.1x 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.7x 0.0x 0.9x
Debt / FCF 5.6x 0.4x 3.2x
Liabilities / assets 72.2% 58.6% 63.8%
Equity / assets 27.8% 41.4% 36.2%
Interest coverage 3.9x 9.6x 14.1x
Current ratio 1.3x 1.5x 1.8x
Quick ratio 1.6x 1.0x 1.5x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.2x 1.0x
Altman Z-score 2.87 – 4.50

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricJSTNVLTO
Dividend yield 0.9% 1.3% 0.5%
Net buyback yield 3.8% – 1.7%
Shareholder yield 4.8% 1.3% 2.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 53.6% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 25.1% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 6.9% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 8.9% – –

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.

ConsensusJSTNVLTO
Forward P/E 22.2xFY2026 15.6xFY2026 22.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.78FY2026 $4.62FY2026 $4.54FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.8%FY2026 +19.7%FY2026 +16.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +27.6% +2.6% +7.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $9.78BFY2026 $4.75BFY2026 $5.70BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -18.7%FY2026 +0.4%FY2026 +3.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.5% +7.6% +16.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersJSTNVLTO
Held by institutions 92.2% 62.0% 96.1%
Institutions holding 872 293 974
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.0% +2.8% +3.3%
Institutions buying 376 162 399
Institutions selling 360 87 384
Buyers to sellers 1.04 1.86 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.

JSTNVLTO
J 1.00 0.51 0.30
STN 0.51 1.00 0.32
VLTO 0.30 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, J, STN and VLTO?

Veralto (VLTO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Jacobs Solutions (J) $17.95B, Stantec (STN) $8.25B, Veralto (VLTO) $25.38B.

Which stock is cheaper, J, STN and VLTO?

Stantec (STN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Jacobs Solutions (J) 53.1x, Stantec (STN) 12.7x, Veralto (VLTO) 25.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Stantec (STN) is cheapest (Jacobs Solutions (J) 22.2x, Stantec (STN) 15.6x, Veralto (VLTO) 22.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Jacobs Solutions (J) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Jacobs Solutions (J) +20.1%, Stantec (STN) +9.4%, Veralto (VLTO) +6.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Veralto (VLTO) has the highest net margin (Jacobs Solutions (J) 2.4%, Stantec (STN) 6.2%, Veralto (VLTO) 17.3%). On return on invested capital, Stantec (STN) leads (Jacobs Solutions (J) 5.8%, Stantec (STN) 37.8%, Veralto (VLTO) 17.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Veralto (VLTO) returned the most: Jacobs Solutions (J) -4.7%, Stantec (STN) -36.8%, Veralto (VLTO) +0.3%. Over five years, Stantec (STN) compounded fastest (Jacobs Solutions (J) +5.4%/yr, Stantec (STN) +5.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Jacobs Solutions (J) 0.01%, Stantec (STN) 0.00%, Veralto (VLTO) 0.00%. Stantec (STN) and Veralto (VLTO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Veralto (VLTO) has been the steadiest (Jacobs Solutions (J) 33.0%, Stantec (STN) 30.4%, Veralto (VLTO) 23.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, J, STN 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, Stantec (STN) leads on 6. 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.