MRK vs VRTV: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Merck & Co., Inc. and Veritiv Corporation — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-19.
Merck & Co., Inc. · Healthcare
$147.17
-4.1% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
VS
Veritiv Corporation · Industrials
$169.99
-45.0% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade D
QuantHub Verdict
MRK has more upside to fair value
(-4.1%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MRK |
VRTV |
| Current Price |
$147.17 |
$169.99 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$141.07 |
$93.49 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-4.1%
|
-45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$363.5B |
$2.3B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
29.6x
|
5.4x
|
| Price / Sales |
5.5x
|
0.4x
|
| Price / FCF |
22.6x
|
10.4x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+5.1%
|
-19.0%
|
| Gross Margin |
75.4%
|
22.7%
|
| Operating Margin |
16.7%
|
5.9%
|
| Return on Equity |
6.6%
|
48.6%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.31% |
1.48% |
| FCF Yield |
4.42%
|
9.57%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Hold
|
Investment Thesis
Merck & Co., Inc. is a global healthcare leader with two core divisions, Pharmaceuticals and Animal Health, spanning oncology, vaccines, acute hospital care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular and diabetes, and it employs roughly 74,000 people under CEO Robert Davis. The business quality is medium: TTM gross margin of 75.4% and TTM operating margin of 16.7% reflect a genuinely hig…
Veritiv Corporation is a business-to-business distributor of specialty packaging, facility solutions, print, and publishing products, operating through four segments with a network of distribution centers and roughly 5,000 employees. The business quality is mixed: it generates a strong 48.6% ROE and trades at a low 7.13 trailing P/E and 5.44 EV/EBITDA, but revenue declined 19.0% year over year in…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MRK |
VRTV |
| Zone Low |
$105.80 |
$70.12 |
| Zone High |
$119.91 |
$79.47 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|