STERIS (NYSE:STE) Rating Lowered to Buy at Wall Street Zen

STERIS (NYSE:STE) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on STE. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $275.00 price target (up from $270.00) on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of STERIS from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of STERIS in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.33.

STERIS Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of STE opened at $219.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.77 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $222.15 and a 200 day moving average of $217.93. STERIS has a 52-week low of $195.14 and a 52-week high of $269.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. STERIS’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.000-11.300 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that STERIS will post 11.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In related news, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.78, for a total value of $956,795.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,730,632.90. This represents a 14.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its stake in STERIS by 109.7% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 20,978 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,417,000 after purchasing an additional 10,976 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS purchased a new position in STERIS in the 1st quarter worth $5,506,000. Strs Ohio raised its stake in STERIS by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 71,748 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $15,866,000 after acquiring an additional 6,196 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its position in STERIS by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 190,483 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $48,326,000 after acquiring an additional 15,416 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in STERIS by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 430,639 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $109,176,000 after acquiring an additional 134,990 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

About STERIS

STERIS plc (NYSE: STE) provides products and services designed to support infection prevention, surgical procedures, and the manufacture of healthcare and pharmaceutical products. The company serves healthcare providers, pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturers, and other organizations that require controlled, sterile environments.

Its Healthcare segment offers sterilization and decontamination equipment, operating-room products, surgical instruments, endoscopy products, consumables, and related maintenance and procedural services.