Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Sotera Health in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Sotera Health from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sotera Health from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Sotera Health in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Sotera Health from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sotera Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.38.

Sotera Health Stock Performance

Shares of SHC stock opened at $18.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.05. Sotera Health has a 12 month low of $13.09 and a 12 month high of $19.85.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $321.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.70 million. Sotera Health had a return on equity of 40.12% and a net margin of 13.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. Sotera Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.950-1.010 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sotera Health will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sotera Health news, Chairman Michael Petras, Jr. sold 850,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total value of $15,725,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,969,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,433,770.50. This trade represents a 17.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael Rutz sold 150,000 shares of Sotera Health stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.84, for a total transaction of $2,826,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 334,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,297,816.36. This represents a 30.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 1,294,515 shares of company stock valued at $23,999,528 in the last 90 days. 15.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sotera Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SHC. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Sotera Health by 217.5% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sotera Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Sotera Health in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Sotera Health by 150.8% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of Sotera Health by 20.1% in the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.03% of the company’s stock.

Sotera Health Company Profile

Sotera Health Company (NASDAQ: SHC) is a healthcare services company focused on sterilization, laboratory testing and infection prevention. Its services support manufacturers and providers across the medical device, pharmaceutical, tissue, food safety and other healthcare-related industries.

The company operates through three primary businesses. Sterigenics provides outsourced sterilization services, including ethylene oxide, gamma irradiation and electron-beam processing. Nelson Labs offers laboratory testing, analytical services and consulting for medical devices, pharmaceuticals and other healthcare products.