PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ:PCT) & Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Critical Analysis

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) and PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ:PCT) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Veralto and PureCycle Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Veralto	0	7	5	0	2.42
PureCycle Technologies	1	1	1	1	2.50

Veralto presently has a consensus price target of $108.22, suggesting a potential upside of 19.97%. PureCycle Technologies has a consensus price target of $13.00, suggesting a potential upside of 125.69%. Given PureCycle Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe PureCycle Technologies is more favorable than Veralto.

Profitability

This table compares Veralto and PureCycle Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Veralto	17.08%	35.77%	13.51%
PureCycle Technologies	-2,185.10%	-204.74%	-24.69%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.3% of Veralto shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.0% of PureCycle Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Veralto shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.7% of PureCycle Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Veralto and PureCycle Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Veralto	$5.50 billion	4.06	$940.00 million	$3.75	24.05
PureCycle Technologies	$8.35 million	124.58	-$182.57 million	($1.21)	-4.76

Veralto has higher revenue and earnings than PureCycle Technologies. PureCycle Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Veralto, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Veralto has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PureCycle Technologies has a beta of 2.07, meaning that its stock price is 107% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Veralto beats PureCycle Technologies on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Veralto

Veralto Corporation provides water analytics, water treatment, marking and coding, and packaging and color services worldwide. It operates through two segments, Water Quality (WQ) and Product Quality & Innovation (PQI). The WQ segment offers precision instrumentation and water treatment technologies to measure, analyze, and treat water in residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, research, and natural resource applications through the Hach, Trojan Technologies, and ChemTreat brands. This segment provides water solutions, including chemical reagents, services, and digital solutions. The PQI segment offers inline printing solutions for products and packaging with marking and coding systems; marking and coding for packaged goods and related consumables; design software and imaging systems for the creation of new packaging designs; color management solutions for printed packages and consumer and industrial products; color standard services for the design industry; and a software solution that provides digital asset management, marketing resource management, and product information management. This segment sells its products and services through the Videojet, Linx, Esko, X-Rite, and Pantone brands to regulated industries, including municipal utilities, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and industrials. The company was formerly known as DH EAS Holding Corp. and changed its name to Veralto Corporation in February 2023. Veralto Corporation was incorporated in 2022 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

About PureCycle Technologies

PureCycle Technologies, Inc. engages in the production of recycled polypropylene (PP). The company holds a license for restoring waste PP into ultra-pure recycled polypropylene resin that has multiple applications, including packaging and labeling for consumer products, piping, ropes, cabling, and plastic parts for various industries. Its recycling process separates color, odor, and other contaminants from plastic waste feedstock to transform it into virgin-like resin. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.