AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 1,079,783 Shares of Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC)

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC - Free Report) by 42.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,484,301 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,079,783 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.52% of Sotera Health worth $20,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sotera Health by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,923,546 shares of the company's stock worth $204,154,000 after buying an additional 173,341 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Sotera Health by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,143,955 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,004,000 after buying an additional 673,979 shares during the period. Two Seas Capital LP increased its holdings in Sotera Health by 624.0% during the fourth quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 2,896,136 shares of the company's stock worth $39,619,000 after buying an additional 2,496,136 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sotera Health by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,780,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,048,000 after acquiring an additional 25,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Sotera Health by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,630,736 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,308,000 after acquiring an additional 507,147 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.03% of the company's stock.

Sotera Health Price Performance

Sotera Health stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $13.13. 761,268 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,208,118. The company has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.52 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.91, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a current ratio of 2.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.97. Sotera Health has a 52-week low of $9.53 and a 52-week high of $17.08.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. Sotera Health had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 42.27%. The company had revenue of $254.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $245.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. Sotera Health's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sotera Health will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SHC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Sotera Health from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Sotera Health from $16.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Sotera Health from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $15.80.

About Sotera Health

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.