VLTO vs STN vs ERII Stock Comparison

Veralto, Stantec and Energy Recovery Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
VLTO Veralto Corp
$103.97 +7.6% 1M +4.5% 1Y
Market cap
$27.42B
P/E
27.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.80B
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins
STN Stantec Inc
$72.26 +7.5% 1M -36.0% 1Y
Market cap
$8.24B
P/E
12.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.51B
Div. yield
–
Engineering and Construction Industrials
4 wins
ERII Energy Recovery, Inc.
$7.12 +5.5% 1M -58.5% 1Y
Market cap
$358.18M
P/E
23.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$120.57M
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Stantec leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Stantec 4, Veralto 3, Energy Recovery 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionVLTOSTNERIILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $27.42B $8.24B $358.18M VLTO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 27.4x 12.6x 23.4x STN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.9x 15.6x — STN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.4% +9.4% -15.0% STN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 6.2% 12.7% ERII
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 37.8% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.0x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +4.5% -36.0% -58.5% VLTO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +5.5%/yr -18.9%/yr STN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.3% 30.4% 63.8% VLTO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 74/100 91/100 ERII

Percentile Scorecard

VLTOSTNERII

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

AxisVLTOSTNERII
Valuation 70 #7 of 21 92 #5 of 52 95 #2 of 21
Growth 50 #10 of 19 36 #24 of 37 72 #6 of 19
Profitability – 92 #4 of 37 87 #3 of 16
Financial Health – 84 #10 of 57 100 #1 of 21
Shareholder Returns – 65 #10 of 27 100 #1 of 10
Overall – 74 91
  • VLTO ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • STN ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • ERII ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodVLTOSTNERIISPY
1 month +7.6%+7.5%+5.5% +0.7%
3 months +9.8%+4.1%-15.5% +3.7%
6 months +17.9%-20.9%-35.7% +7.1%
Year to date +4.2%-23.4%-47.2% +12.8%
1 year +4.5%-36.0%-58.5% +11.9%
3 years +52.1%+18.0%-49.7% +85.2%
3 years, per year +15.0%+5.7%-20.5% +22.8%
5 years —+30.7%-65.0% +67.6%
5 years, per year —+5.5%-18.9% +10.9%
10 years —+227.4%-43.1% +262.0%
10 years, per year —+12.6%-5.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureVLTOSTNERIISPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.3%30.4%63.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.9%34.6%82.6% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.230.761.70 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.19-1.19-0.92 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -27.6%-41.3%-78.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.9%-36.0%-58.7% -1.2%
52-week high $104.87$112.94$17.26 $779.14
52-week low $82.23$66.69$6.64 $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.

MultipleVLTOSTNERII
P/E now vs peer median 25.4xmedian 25.4x 12.6xmedian 28.1x 23.9xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 2.5x 0.8xmedian 0.8x 3.0xmedian 2.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.9x 5.2xmedian 12.7x 15.0xmedian 17.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 22.1xmedian 22.3x 15.6xmedian 25.0x 9.4xmedian 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median —median 1.8x 3.5xmedian 2.5x 2.1xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 4.62median 1.73 0.61median 0.60 1.43median 1.73

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 monthsVLTOSTNERII
Revenue $5.80B $10.51B $120.57M
Gross profit $3.49B $4.58B $77.18M
Operating income $1.27B $1.23B $14.23M
Net income – $536.90M $15.34M
Free cash flow – $528.58M $38.60M
R&D $278.00M – $12.22M
EPS (diluted) $4.08 $5.72 $0.30
Cash & equivalents – $265.54M $61.44M
Total debt – $2.38B –
Shares (diluted) 245.80M 114.07M 51.46M
Enterprise value $27.42B $7.17B $33.34M

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
MetricVLTOSTNERII
P/E 25.4x 12.6x 23.9x
P/FCF 22.1x 15.6x 9.4x
P/Operating cash flow – 17.6x 8.8x
P/S 4.4x 0.8x 3.0x
P/B – 3.5x 2.1x
P/Tangible book – 4.1x 2.1x
EV/EBITDA – 5.2x 15.0x
EV/EBIT – 6.7x 19.1x
EV/Revenue 4.4x 0.8x 2.3x
EV/FCF – 15.5x 7.0x
EV/Operating cash flow – 17.5x 6.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.62 0.61 1.43

Growth

14 metrics
MetricVLTOSTNERII
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.4% 9.4% -15.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 10.4% 4.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.7% 10.5% -18.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.8% 11.2% 2.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) -0.2% 20.5% -34.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 16.5% 17.3%
Net income growth (1Y) – 24.6% -36.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 15.4% 13.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 11.9% 24.6% -32.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 20.6% 16.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -13.0% 98.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 15.5% 62.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -10.2% 91.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 24.6% 76.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricVLTOSTNERII
Gross margin – 43.6% 64.0%
EBITDA margin – 14.9% 15.0%
Operating margin – 11.7% 11.8%
Pretax margin – 11.3% 14.6%
Net margin – 6.2% 12.7%
FCF margin – 5.0% 32.0%
Operating cash flow margin – 4.4% 34.2%
Return on equity – 36.3% 8.6%
Return on assets – 15.1% 7.5%
Return on invested capital – 37.8% –
Return on capital employed – 28.3% 7.7%
Asset turnover – 1.8x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 0.9x 2.7x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.3% 5.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricVLTOSTNERII
Debt / assets – 3.9% –
Debt / equity – 0.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.0x –
Debt / FCF – 0.4x –
Liabilities / assets – 58.6% 12.8%
Equity / assets – 41.4% 87.2%
Interest coverage – 9.6x –
Current ratio – 1.5x 8.1x
Quick ratio – 1.0x 5.8x
Cash ratio – 0.2x 5.0x
Altman Z-score – – 11.10

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricVLTOSTNERII
Dividend yield 0.5% 1.3% –
Net buyback yield – – 9.4%
Shareholder yield 0.5% 1.3% 9.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusVLTOSTNERII
Forward P/E 22.9xFY2026 15.6xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $4.54FY2026 $4.62FY2026 $-0.20FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.4%FY2026 +19.7%FY2026 -147.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.9% +2.6% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.70BFY2026 $4.75BFY2026 $69.90MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.7%FY2026 +0.4%FY2026 -48.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +16.5% +7.6% +45.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersVLTOSTNERII
Held by institutions 96.1% 62.0% 85.0%
Institutions holding 975 294 197
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.3% +2.8% -1.1%
Institutions buying 399 163 120
Institutions selling 385 87 45
Buyers to sellers 1.04 1.87 2.67

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.

VLTOSTNERII
VLTO 1.00 0.33 -0.07
STN 0.33 1.00 0.00
ERII -0.07 0.00 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, VLTO, STN and ERII?

Veralto (VLTO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Veralto (VLTO) $27.42B, Stantec (STN) $8.24B, Energy Recovery (ERII) $358.18M.

Which stock is cheaper, VLTO, STN and ERII?

Stantec (STN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Veralto (VLTO) 27.4x, Stantec (STN) 12.6x, Energy Recovery (ERII) 23.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Stantec (STN) is cheapest (Veralto (VLTO) 22.9x, Stantec (STN) 15.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Stantec (STN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Veralto (VLTO) +6.4%, Stantec (STN) +9.4%, Energy Recovery (ERII) -15.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Energy Recovery (ERII) has the highest net margin (Stantec (STN) 6.2%, Energy Recovery (ERII) 12.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Veralto (VLTO) returned the most: Veralto (VLTO) +4.5%, Stantec (STN) -36.0%, Energy Recovery (ERII) -58.5%. Over five years, Stantec (STN) compounded fastest (Stantec (STN) +5.5%/yr, Energy Recovery (ERII) -18.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Veralto (VLTO) has been the steadiest (Veralto (VLTO) 23.3%, Stantec (STN) 30.4%, Energy Recovery (ERII) 63.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, VLTO, STN and ERII?

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 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.