Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Increases Position in STERIS plc $STE

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 58.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,161 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,282 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in STERIS were worth $1,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in STERIS by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 164 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its position in shares of STERIS by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 1,118 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of STERIS by 34.9% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 174 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in STERIS by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its stake in STERIS by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on STE shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. 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. UBS Group began coverage on shares of STERIS in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.25.

STERIS Price Performance

NYSE STE opened at $228.75 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $212.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.56. STERIS plc has a 52 week low of $195.14 and a 52 week high of $269.44. The stock has a market cap of $22.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85 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.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. STERIS had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.74 EPS. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. Analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 11.17 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This is an increase from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In other news, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $291,288.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,493,164. This trade represents a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.51, for a total value of $310,284.31. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 38,964 shares in the company, valued at $8,163,347.64. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 7,328 shares of company stock valued at $1,554,051 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

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.