STERIS (NYSE:STE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

STERIS (NYSE:STE) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp dropped their price target on STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on STERIS from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $275.00 target price (up from $270.00) on shares of STERIS in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.33.

STERIS Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of STERIS stock opened at $238.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.35. STERIS has a 1 year low of $195.14 and a 1 year high of $269.44. The firm has a market cap of $23.29 billion, a PE ratio of 29.21 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.04.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.10. STERIS had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 14.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.000-11.300 EPS. Analysts expect that STERIS will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Adam Zangerle sold 1,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.28, for a total transaction of $296,968.32. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 35,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,379,003.52. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 3,054 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.64, for a total value of $655,510.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,956,107.44. This represents a 4.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,328 shares of company stock valued at $1,554,051. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STERIS

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in STERIS during the 4th quarter valued at $320,298,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in STERIS by 178.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,183,070 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $291,704,000 after acquiring an additional 758,423 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of STERIS in the third quarter valued at about $158,982,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its position in shares of STERIS by 36.0% in the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,100,099 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $504,486,000 after acquiring an additional 556,088 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of STERIS by 25.7% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,863,139 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $411,995,000 after acquiring an additional 380,504 shares during the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About STERIS

STERIS Corporation (NYSE: STE) is a global provider of infection prevention, contamination control and procedural products and services for the healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The company develops, manufactures and supports a broad portfolio of equipment and consumables designed to reduce risk of infection, maintain sterile environments and support critical clinical and manufacturing procedures.

Its offerings include sterilization and decontamination systems, instrument washers and washers-disinfectors, endoscope reprocessing solutions, surgical equipment and procedural disposables, and contamination-control products for cleanrooms and laboratories.