Vontier

The price is attractive. You pay 8.7× its owner earnings: the cash an owner could take out each year, which is in the historically attractive zone. At today's price, the market is assuming roughly -5% yearly growth; analysts expect 8%. The price, in other words, assumes less than the experts do.

The trajectory is tepid and the balance sheet is stretched. The company scores 12/20 on our value-creation score: creating some value.

What to watch: A large part of the company's book value is the price paid for past acquisitions. As always: this describes the company's numbers; it is not a recommendation.