Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) Shares 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SHC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded Sotera Health from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sotera Health from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Sotera Health in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Sotera Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $15.00 to $15.50 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Sotera Health in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.38.

Sotera Health Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.94 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.16, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.67.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Sotera Health

In other news, insider Michael P. Rutz sold 83,109 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 $1,189,289.79. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,790,492.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Michael P. Rutz sold 83,109 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,790,492.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Pincus & Co. Warburg sold 16,594,363 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 88,822,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,271,056,443.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 65.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sotera Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased 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 in the last quarter. Irenic Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Sotera Health by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. Irenic Capital Management LP now owns 2,233,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,629,000 after buying an additional 1,134,039 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Sotera Health during the third quarter worth $7,422,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Sotera Health by 75.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,518,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,900 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sotera Health in the 4th quarter valued at $16,432,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.