Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) Receives $17.70 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.70.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SHC. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Sotera Health in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Sotera Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $15.50 in a report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Sotera Health from $19.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Sotera Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised Sotera Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Insider Activity

In other Sotera Health news, Director Pincus & Co. Warburg sold 16,594,363 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total transaction of $237,465,334.53. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 88,822,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,271,056,443.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Sotera Health news, insider Michael P. Rutz sold 83,109 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total value of $1,189,289.79. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,790,492.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Pincus & Co. Warburg sold 16,594,363 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total value of $237,465,334.53. Following the sale, the director now owns 88,822,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,271,056,443.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 55.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sotera Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHC. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Sotera Health in the 3rd quarter worth $58,000. Securian Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sotera Health by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Sotera Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $139,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in Sotera Health by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allegheny Financial Group LTD purchased a new stake in Sotera Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $177,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.03% of the company’s stock.

Sotera Health Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SHC opened at $11.02 on Friday. Sotera Health has a fifty-two week low of $10.71 and a fifty-two week high of $19.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.18, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 3.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.00 and a beta of 2.08.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.26. Sotera Health had a net margin of 5.09% and a return on equity of 48.47%. The firm had revenue of $310.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $302.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Sotera Health will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Sotera Health Company Profile

Sotera Health Company engages in the provision of sterilization, lab testing, and advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Sterigenics, Nordion, and Nelson Labs. It provides mission-critical end-to-end sterilization services, including gamma and electron beam irradiation, and ethylene oxide processing, as well as designs, installs, and maintains gamma irradiation systems.