XYL

At 27.3x, investors are paying up; a fair amount of future growth is already in the price.

Share price divided by earnings per share: what you pay for each $1 of yearly profit. Roughly 15 to 25 is typical, above 40 is richly priced, and negative means the company is losing money.

A 1.5% yield is modest: a small income on top of whatever the share price does.

The yearly dividend as a percent of the share price: the cash income each share pays out. Around 2 to 6% is healthy; above roughly 8% often signals the payout may be cut.

A 10.6% margin is solid, in the ordinary range for a profitable company.

The share of revenue left as profit once every cost is paid. Above 15% is strong; below 5% leaves little cushion against a bad year.

A 8.3% return on equity is respectable, in the normal range.

Profit earned on each dollar of shareholder equity: how well the company compounds its owners' capital. Above 15% is strong.

A 5.4% return on assets is reasonable for a company of this kind.

Profit earned on each dollar of assets: how efficiently the whole asset base is used. Above 8% is strong.

Revenue grew 5.5% from the prior year: steady, modest expansion.

Change in annual revenue from the prior fiscal year: whether the top line is expanding. Above 10% is strong growth; below 0 means revenue is shrinking.

Net income grew 7.5% from the prior year: steady profit expansion.

Change in annual net income from the prior fiscal year: whether profit is expanding. Above 10% is strong; below 0 means profit is falling.