Brandes Investment Partners LP Increases Stock Holdings in Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC)

Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in shares of Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) by 301.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,429 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,367 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Sotera Health were worth $670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sotera Health in the fourth quarter valued at $16,432,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Sotera Health by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 90,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after buying an additional 8,738 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Sotera Health by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 132,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,230,000 after buying an additional 5,362 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sotera Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Mudita Advisors LLP raised its stake in shares of Sotera Health by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Mudita Advisors LLP now owns 313,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,276,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares during the period. 91.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on SHC shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Sotera Health from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Sotera Health in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.70.

Sotera Health Price Performance

Sotera Health stock opened at $16.70 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.59, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.46. Sotera Health has a 52-week low of $10.71 and a 52-week high of $17.44. The firm has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 87.89 and a beta of 2.07. The company’s 50 day moving average is $15.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.95.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.04. Sotera Health had a return on equity of 47.26% and a net margin of 3.65%. The business had revenue of $277.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $266.45 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Sotera Health will post 0.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gtcr Investment Xi Llc sold 10,000,000 shares of Sotera Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.03, for a total value of $150,300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,215,301 shares in the company, valued at $739,705,974.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 55.12% 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.