Piper Sandler Initiates Coverage on Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC)

Research analysts at Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $13.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential upside of 15.56% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Sotera Health from $19.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet raised shares of Sotera Health from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Citigroup raised shares of Sotera Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Sotera Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Sotera Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $15.50 in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.92.

Sotera Health Trading Up 3.3 %

NASDAQ SHC opened at $11.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 59.21 and a beta of 2.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $11.55 and a 200 day moving average of $13.85. Sotera Health has a 1 year low of $10.71 and a 1 year high of $19.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.39, a current ratio of 3.20 and a quick ratio of 2.86.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Sotera Health had a net margin of 5.09% and a return on equity of 48.47%. The company had revenue of $310.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Sotera Health will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sotera Health

In related news, insider Michael P. Rutz sold 83,109 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total transaction of $1,189,289.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,790,492.79. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Sotera Health news, Director Pincus & Co. Warburg sold 16,594,363 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total value of $237,465,334.53. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 88,822,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,271,056,443.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael P. Rutz sold 83,109 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total transaction of $1,189,289.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,409 shares in the company, valued at $7,790,492.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 55.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sotera Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SHC. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Sotera Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Sandia Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Sotera Health during the 1st quarter worth approximately $120,000. Securian Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sotera Health by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sotera Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $139,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Sotera Health by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the period. 91.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.