Sotera Health Company (NASDAQ:SHC) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

Shares of Sotera Health Company (NASDAQ:SHC) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.50.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SHC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Sotera Health from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Sotera Health from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sotera Health from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sotera Health from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sotera Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th.

Sotera Health Price Performance

Shares of SHC opened at $18.12 on Friday. Sotera Health has a twelve month low of $13.09 and a twelve month high of $19.85. The company has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.79 and a beta of 1.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.64 and a 200 day moving average of $16.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $321.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $309.70 million. Sotera Health had a return on equity of 40.12% and a net margin of 13.44%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. Sotera Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.950-1.010 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sotera Health will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sotera Health news, insider Michael Rutz sold 150,000 shares of Sotera Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.84, for a total value of $2,826,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 334,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,297,816.36. The trade was a 30.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Petras, Jr. sold 850,000 shares of Sotera Health stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 3,969,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,433,770.50. This trade represents a 17.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,294,515 shares of company stock worth $23,999,528. 15.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sotera Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SHC. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its position in Sotera Health by 94.1% in the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 151,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,673,000 after purchasing an additional 73,473 shares during the last quarter. Militia Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sotera Health during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,877,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sotera Health by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,931,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,372,000 after purchasing an additional 476,365 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sotera Health by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,403,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,133,000 after purchasing an additional 166,055 shares during the period. Finally, Balefire LLC bought a new position in shares of Sotera Health in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,476,000. 91.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sotera Health Company Profile

Sotera Health Company (NASDAQ:SHC) is a global provider of healthcare services focused on sterilization, laboratory testing and infection prevention. The company serves medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology businesses, hospitals and other healthcare organizations.

Sotera Health operates through three primary businesses. Sterigenics provides outsourced sterilization and medical device services using technologies such as ethylene oxide, gamma irradiation and electron beam processing.