Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) Hits New 12-Month Low at $10.72

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) shares reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $10.72 and last traded at $10.75, with a volume of 980611 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Sotera Health from $19.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Sotera Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $15.50 in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Citigroup raised shares of Sotera Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Sotera Health in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Sotera Health from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sotera Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.70.

Sotera Health Trading Down 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.16, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 59.72 and a beta of 2.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.28.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Sotera Health had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The business had revenue of $310.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $302.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sotera Health will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Pincus & Co. Warburg sold 16,594,363 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 88,822,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,271,056,443.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Pincus & Co. Warburg sold 16,594,363 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 88,822,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,271,056,443.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael P. Rutz sold 83,109 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 544,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,790,492.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 65.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sotera Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHC. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Sotera Health in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Sotera Health by 100.7% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Sotera Health in the 3rd quarter worth about $58,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC purchased a new stake in shares of Sotera Health in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sotera Health in the 1st quarter worth about $139,000. 91.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.