STERIS (NYSE:STE) Given “Hold” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their hold rating on shares of STERIS (NYSE:STE) in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, November 7th. KeyCorp raised their target price on STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com lowered STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.00.

STERIS Price Performance

STERIS stock opened at $221.86 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $232.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.97. The stock has a market cap of $21.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.63 and a beta of 0.85. STERIS has a 12-month low of $195.47 and a 12-month high of $248.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.02. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.02%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that STERIS will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.05%.

Insider Activity at STERIS

In related news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total value of $5,763,004.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,603,710. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of STERIS by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,442,805 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,414,453,000 after purchasing an additional 778,613 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of STERIS by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,738,630 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $390,880,000 after purchasing an additional 120,616 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its position in shares of STERIS by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 1,485,578 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $333,988,000 after purchasing an additional 282,387 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in shares of STERIS by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,150,517 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $251,663,000 after purchasing an additional 263,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,114,224 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $270,230,000 after acquiring an additional 96,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

About STERIS

STERIS plc provides infection prevention products and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Healthcare, Applied Sterilization Technologies, Life Sciences, and Dental. The Healthcare segment offers cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance products; automated endoscope reprocessing system and tracking products; endoscopy accessories, washers, sterilizers, and other pieces of capital equipment for the operation of a sterile processing department; and equipment used directly in the operating room, including surgical tables, lights, and connectivity solutions, as well as equipment management services.