Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Invests $53.06 Million in STERIS plc $STE

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 209,276 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,056,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of STERIS during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of STERIS by 115.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 112 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in shares of STERIS by 423.8% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of STERIS during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of STERIS by 416.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 129 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Adam Zangerle sold 1,419 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.28, for a total transaction of $296,968.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 35,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,379,003.52. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total value of $291,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,493,164. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 7,328 shares of company stock valued at $1,554,051 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

STERIS Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of STERIS stock opened at $206.64 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. STERIS plc has a 12 month low of $195.14 and a 12 month high of $269.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $236.34. The stock has a market cap of $20.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06 and a beta of 0.93.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by ($0.03). STERIS had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 13.18%.The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. Research analysts predict that STERIS plc will post 11.18 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. STERIS’s payout ratio is 31.78%.

STERIS Profile

STERIS Corporation (NYSE: STE) is a global provider of infection prevention, contamination control and procedural products and services for the healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The company develops, manufactures and supports a broad portfolio of equipment and consumables designed to reduce risk of infection, maintain sterile environments and support critical clinical and manufacturing procedures.

Its offerings include sterilization and decontamination systems, instrument washers and washers-disinfectors, endoscope reprocessing solutions, surgical equipment and procedural disposables, and contamination-control products for cleanrooms and laboratories.