Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in STERIS plc $STE

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 890,562 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,226 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.91% of STERIS worth $196,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in STE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of STERIS in the fourth quarter valued at $320,298,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in STERIS by 178.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,183,070 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $291,704,000 after buying an additional 758,423 shares during the period. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in STERIS in the 3rd quarter worth about $158,982,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its stake in STERIS by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,100,099 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $504,486,000 after buying an additional 556,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in STERIS by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,614,840 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,169,957,000 after buying an additional 260,001 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other STERIS news, VP John Adam Zangerle sold 1,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.28, for a total value of $296,968.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 35,259 shares in the company, valued at $7,379,003.52. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Richard C. Breeden sold 1,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.51, for a total transaction of $310,284.31. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 38,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,163,347.64. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,328 shares of company stock valued at $1,554,051. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on STE. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

STERIS Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of NYSE STE opened at $208.15 on Wednesday. STERIS plc has a 12-month low of $195.14 and a 12-month high of $269.44. The company has a market cap of $20.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $211.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.68.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by ($0.03). STERIS had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 13.18%.The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that STERIS plc will post 11.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. STERIS’s payout ratio is 31.78%.

STERIS Profile

STERIS Corporation (NYSE: STE) is a global provider of infection prevention, contamination control and procedural products and services for the healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The company develops, manufactures and supports a broad portfolio of equipment and consumables designed to reduce risk of infection, maintain sterile environments and support critical clinical and manufacturing procedures.

Its offerings include sterilization and decontamination systems, instrument washers and washers-disinfectors, endoscope reprocessing solutions, surgical equipment and procedural disposables, and contamination-control products for cleanrooms and laboratories.