STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.57

STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.57 per share by the medical equipment provider on Friday, March 21st. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th.

STERIS has raised its dividend payment by an average of 9.5% annually over the last three years. STERIS has a payout ratio of 20.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect STERIS to earn $10.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.7%.

STERIS Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE STE opened at $220.66 on Thursday. STERIS has a 52 week low of $197.82 and a 52 week high of $248.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $211.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.78 billion, a PE ratio of 50.38 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.02%. STERIS’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that STERIS will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 1,682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.32, for a total value of $365,532.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,363.04. This represents a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on STE shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a report on Monday, November 18th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler upgraded STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.50.

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.