VLTO vs AWK vs PNR Stock Comparison

Veralto, American Water Works Company and Pentair Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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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
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

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.

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

Percentile Scorecard

VLTOAWKPNR

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

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

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodVLTOAWKPNRSPY
1 month +6.4%+8.2%+2.9% -0.8%
3 months +9.6%+5.3%-12.5% +3.5%
6 months +18.6%+7.4%-40.1% +7.0%
Year to date +3.6%+8.6%-47.0% +12.2%
1 year -1.3%+0.1%-49.7% +13.0%
3 years +52.0%+21.7%-4.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year +15.0%+6.8%-1.4% +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

MeasureVLTOAWKPNRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.5%22.8%34.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 22.4%21.2%40.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.23-0.460.90 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.050.00-1.46 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -27.6%-39.7%-53.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.5%-1.1%-49.4% -1.8%
52-week high $104.87$143.25$109.13 $779.14
52-week low $82.23$121.13$52.11 $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.

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

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

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

Growth

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

Profitability

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

Financial Health

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

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricVLTOAWKPNR
Dividend yield 0.5% 2.4% 2.0%
Net buyback yield 1.7% – 5.1%
Shareholder yield 2.2% 2.4% 7.0%
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.

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

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

VLTOAWKPNR
VLTO 1.00 0.27 0.39
AWK 0.27 1.00 0.22
PNR 0.39 0.22 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, VLTO, AWK and PNR?

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

Which stock is cheaper, VLTO, AWK and PNR?

Pentair (PNR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Veralto (VLTO) 25.6x, American Water Works Company (AWK) 24.5x, Pentair (PNR) 15.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Pentair (PNR) is cheapest (Veralto (VLTO) 22.8x, American Water Works Company (AWK) 24.8x, Pentair (PNR) 12.1x). 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: Veralto (VLTO) +6.2%, American Water Works Company (AWK) +6.9%, Pentair (PNR) -2.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Water Works Company (AWK) returned the most: Veralto (VLTO) -1.3%, American Water Works Company (AWK) +0.1%, Pentair (PNR) -49.7%. 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: Veralto (VLTO) 0.00%, American Water Works Company (AWK) 0.02%, Pentair (PNR) 0.02%. Veralto (VLTO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

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

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

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.