STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,830,000 shares, a decrease of 29.3% from the August 15th total of 2,590,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 458,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in STERIS by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,864,606 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,608,434,000 after purchasing an additional 53,526 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 13.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,442,805 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,414,453,000 after purchasing an additional 778,613 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 7.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,738,630 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $390,880,000 after buying an additional 120,616 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 23.5% in the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 1,485,578 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $333,988,000 after buying an additional 282,387 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in STERIS by 29.7% during the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,150,517 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $251,663,000 after buying an additional 263,383 shares during the period. 94.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded STERIS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.00.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STE traded down $1.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $243.68. The company had a trading volume of 280,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 474,332. STERIS has a 52 week low of $195.47 and a 52 week high of $248.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $234.02 and its 200 day moving average is $225.20. The company has a market cap of $24.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.09 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.33.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.16. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 7.36%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. STERIS’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that STERIS will post 9.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. This is a boost from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.69%.

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.