Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Buy"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Sotera Health from “strong buy” to “buy.”
• Analyst views remain mixed: MarketBeat reports a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $20.88, with eight Buy, two Hold and one Sell ratings.
• Sotera Health beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.29 versus $0.27 expected and revenue of $324.89 million; revenue rose 4.4% year over year.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

SHC has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Sotera Health from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Sotera Health from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Sotera Health from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Sotera Health from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Sotera Health in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sotera Health presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.88.

Sotera Health Stock Performance

Shares of Sotera Health stock opened at $16.01 on Friday. Sotera Health has a 12 month low of $13.09 and a 12 month high of $19.85. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $18.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87 and a beta of 1.94.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $324.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $319.86 million. Sotera Health had a return on equity of 40.12% and a net margin of 13.44%. Sotera Health's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sotera Health will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sotera Health

In related news, Chairman Michael B. Jr. Petras sold 850,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total transaction of $15,725,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 3,969,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,433,770.50. This represents a 17.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 15.36% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Sotera Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Sotera Health in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sotera Health during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sotera Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Sotera Health in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Sotera Health by 150.8% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 2,110 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.03% of the company's stock.

About Sotera Health

Sotera Health Company NASDAQ: SHC is a healthcare services company focused on sterilization, laboratory testing and infection prevention. Its services support manufacturers and providers across the medical device, pharmaceutical, tissue, food safety and other healthcare-related industries.

The company operates through three primary businesses. Sterigenics provides outsourced sterilization services, including ethylene oxide, gamma irradiation and electron-beam processing. Nelson Labs offers laboratory testing, analytical services and consulting for medical devices, pharmaceuticals and other healthcare products.

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