Vontier Corp., formerly part of Fortive Corp., is a global industrial technology company focused on transportation and mobility solutions. Through its portfolio of brands, VNT has expertise in the mobility technologies, retail and commercial fueling, telematics, fleet management, vehicle diagnostics and repair, and smart cities end markets. Vontier is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and has 8,400 employees. It began trading as an independent company on October 9, 2020. The shares are a component of the S&P 500.

Stock markets are muted today. Certain financial press headlines have focused on a weak manufacturing report as reason for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates -- but there has been no significant response in overall share prices. Some stocks on the NYSE showed massive losses earlier in the session, but the drops were attributed to a technical glitch at the NYSE that has since been resolved. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note is down nine basis points to 4.42%, oil is down 3% to $74 per barrel, and Bitcoin is up 1%.

Vontier, spun off from Fortive in 2020, is an industrial technology company with a portfolio of transportation and mobility solutions. The company offers a wide array of products and services, including fueling equipment, sensors, point-of-sale and payment systems, telematics, and equipment used by vehicle mechanics and technicians. Vontier generated approximately $3.1 billion in sales in 2023.

Small- and mid-cap stocks (SMID) have underperformed large-caps over the past 12 months, but may be in a better position to generate market-beating returns going forward. For one thing, SMID companies tend to focus on domestic markets, so their businesses could be less disrupted by the fallout from unrest in the Middle East, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, events related to China, or other geopolitical developments. As well, the prices of SMID stocks generally are lower than the prices of large-caps, with the P/E ratio on the Russell 2000 Small-Cap Index of 13 compared to a trailing P/E of 25 for the S&P 500. Finally, there are long stretches in the record books when SMID stocks have outperformed large-caps. From 2003-2021, for example, the Russell 2000 Index had climbed 450%, compared to an advance of 330% for the S&P 500 index. Here are the stocks with market caps below $20 billion that are on the Argus BUY list and recently were added to Argus' Mid-Cap Theme Model Portfolio.