StockNews.com Downgrades STERIS (NYSE:STE) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of STERIS (NYSE:STE - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on STE. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised STERIS from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.00.

STERIS Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE STE traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $223.87. The company had a trading volume of 495,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 474,318. The stock has a market cap of $22.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.59 and a beta of 0.84. STERIS has a 12 month low of $195.47 and a 12 month high of $248.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $234.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $226.59.

STERIS (NYSE:STE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 7.36%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that STERIS will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is an increase from STERIS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. STERIS's payout ratio is currently 56.58%.

Insider Activity

In other STERIS news, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 473 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.68, for a total value of $113,368.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 582 shares in the company, valued at $139,493.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total transaction of $5,763,004.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,603,710. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 473 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.68, for a total value of $113,368.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $139,493.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of STERIS

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in STE. West Coast Financial LLC boosted its stake in STERIS by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in STERIS by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,175 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in STERIS by 77.9% during the 1st quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 121 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 763 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the company's stock.

STERIS Company Profile

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.