Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) Trading Down 1.9%

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) shares fell 1.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $11.47 and last traded at $11.53. 299,777 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 1,707,285 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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 upgraded 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. Barclays increased their price target on Sotera Health from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Sotera Health in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Sotera Health from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.38.

Sotera Health Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 65.94 and a beta of 2.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.67.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sotera Health news, Director Pincus & Co. Warburg sold 16,594,363 shares of the business’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 value of $237,465,334.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 88,822,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,271,056,443.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Sotera Health news, Director Pincus & Co. Warburg sold 16,594,363 shares of Sotera Health 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 88,822,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,271,056,443.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael P. Rutz sold 83,109 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $7,790,492.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 65.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sotera Health

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sotera Health by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,565,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,185,000 after acquiring an additional 52,802 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Sotera Health by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,252,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,429,000 after purchasing an additional 439,762 shares during the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Sotera Health by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 5,085,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,812,000 after purchasing an additional 297,775 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sotera Health by 402.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,477,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Sotera Health by 26.9% during the third quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 2,830,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,403,000 after buying an additional 600,600 shares in the last quarter. 91.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sotera Health

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.