Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Sotera Health Company (NASDAQ:SHC) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $18.42 and last traded at $18.30, with a volume of 2648211 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $17.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. William Blair assumed coverage on Sotera Health in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Zacks Research upgraded Sotera Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Sotera Health in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Sotera Health in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Sotera Health from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.80.

Sotera Health Trading Up 0.4%

The stock has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.95 and a beta of 1.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.18.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.04. Sotera Health had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 43.69%. The business had revenue of $311.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $303.63 million. Sotera Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.810-0.860 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sotera Health Company will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sotera Health

In other Sotera Health news, CEO Michael B. Jr. Petras sold 434,104 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.45, for a total transaction of $7,141,010.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gtcr Investment Xi Llc sold 12,000,000 shares of Sotera Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.65, for a total value of $187,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 29,215,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $457,219,460.65. The trade was a 29.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,384,104 shares of company stock valued at $471,824,511. Insiders own 47.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sotera Health

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SHC. Two Seas Capital LP lifted its position in Sotera Health by 21.1% in the second quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 4,020,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,712,000 after buying an additional 699,731 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Sotera Health by 55.9% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Sotera Health in the 1st quarter worth about $1,003,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Sotera Health by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares during the period. Finally, Voss Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Sotera Health by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 750,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,340,000 after purchasing an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.03% of the company’s stock.

About Sotera Health

Sotera Health Inc (NASDAQ: SHC) is a global provider of sterilization and laboratory testing services that support the medical device, pharmaceutical, life sciences and consumer product industries. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company offers a suite of services designed to ensure products meet rigorous safety and regulatory requirements before reaching market.

Sotera Health operates through three primary service platforms. Its Sterigenics division delivers contract sterilization solutions, including ethylene oxide (EtO), gamma irradiation, electron beam and X-ray technologies.