Sotera Health Company (NASDAQ:SHC) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Sotera Health Company (NASDAQ:SHC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.00.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SHC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Sotera Health to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Sotera Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Sotera Health in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sotera Health from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Sotera Health from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Sotera Health Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SHC opened at $17.45 on Thursday. Sotera Health has a 1 year low of $9.53 and a 1 year high of $19.85. The firm has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.85 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.38.

Insider Activity

In other Sotera Health news, Director Gtcr Investment Xi Llc sold 6,480,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.33, for a total value of $105,818,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 22,735,301 shares in the company, valued at $371,267,465.33. This trade represents a 22.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael B. Jr. Petras sold 434,104 shares of Sotera Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.45, for a total transaction of $7,141,010.80. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 17,384,104 shares of company stock valued at $284,024,511 over the last three months. Insiders own 47.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sotera Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sculptor Capital LP raised its stake in Sotera Health by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 21,000,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,440,000 after purchasing an additional 7,658,200 shares during the period. Sachem Head Capital Management LP raised its position in Sotera Health by 47.2% during the fourth quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 11,645,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,418,000 after buying an additional 3,735,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sotera Health by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,228,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,756,583 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Sotera Health by 1,206.2% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,864,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,523,000 after acquiring an additional 2,644,831 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sotera Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,278,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.03% of the company’s stock.

About Sotera Health

Sotera Health Inc (NASDAQ: SHC) is a global provider of sterilization and laboratory testing services that support the medical device, pharmaceutical, life sciences and consumer product industries. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company offers a suite of services designed to ensure products meet rigorous safety and regulatory requirements before reaching market.

Sotera Health operates through three primary service platforms. Its Sterigenics division delivers contract sterilization solutions, including ethylene oxide (EtO), gamma irradiation, electron beam and X-ray technologies.