JMP Securities Reaffirms Market Outperform Rating for STERIS (NYSE:STE)

JMP Securities restated their market outperform rating on shares of STERIS (NYSE:STE) in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $265.00 price objective on the medical equipment provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on STE. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.00.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STE opened at $215.77 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.58. STERIS has a fifty-two week low of $195.47 and a fifty-two week high of $248.24. The firm has a market cap of $21.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.26 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.41.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.02%. STERIS’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. On average, analysts expect that STERIS will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other STERIS news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total transaction of $5,763,004.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,930 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,710. This represents a 35.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of STERIS

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STE. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in STERIS by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of STERIS by 24.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 13,410 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,252,000 after buying an additional 2,647 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion bought a new position in STERIS in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,644,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in STERIS by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 12,071 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,928,000 after purchasing an additional 4,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in STERIS by 7.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,738,630 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $390,880,000 after acquiring an additional 120,616 shares during the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

STERIS Company Profile

STERIS plc provides infection prevention products and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Healthcare, Applied Sterilization Technologies, Life Sciences, and Dental. The Healthcare segment offers cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance products; automated endoscope reprocessing system and tracking products; endoscopy accessories, washers, sterilizers, and other pieces of capital equipment for the operation of a sterile processing department; and equipment used directly in the operating room, including surgical tables, lights, and connectivity solutions, as well as equipment management services.