Analysts Set Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) Target Price at $17.70

Shares of Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.70.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SHC shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Sotera Health from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Sotera Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $15.00 to $15.50 in a research report on Monday, March 25th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Sotera Health in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of Sotera Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Sotera Health in a report on Monday, March 4th.

Sotera Health Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of SHC opened at $10.91 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.16, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 2.21. Sotera Health has a one year low of $10.71 and a one year high of $19.40. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.61 and a beta of 2.08.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.26. The company had revenue of $310.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $302.17 million. Sotera Health had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 4.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Sotera Health will post 0.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Sotera Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Sotera Health during the third quarter worth about $58,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Sotera Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $139,000. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Sotera Health by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Allegheny Financial Group LTD bought a new position in shares of Sotera Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $177,000. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sotera Health during the 4th quarter valued at $194,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.03% of the company’s stock.

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.