Phocas Financial Corp. Trims Holdings in Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC)

Phocas Financial Corp. lessened its stake in shares of Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 292,212 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,308 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. owned about 0.10% of Sotera Health worth $4,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SHC. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sotera Health by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,131,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,430,000 after purchasing an additional 6,707 shares during the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sotera Health during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,707,000. First Pacific Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Sotera Health during the 2nd quarter valued at about $540,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Sotera Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,074,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Sotera Health by 3.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,004,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,918,000 after purchasing an additional 37,681 shares during the period. 91.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gtcr Investment Xi Llc sold 10,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.03, for a total transaction of $150,300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,215,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $739,705,974.03. This represents a 16.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 55.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Sotera Health in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Sotera Health from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sotera Health from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.50.

Sotera Health Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of SHC stock opened at $13.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.52 and a beta of 2.08. Sotera Health has a fifty-two week low of $10.71 and a fifty-two week high of $17.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.91, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a current ratio of 2.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.93.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $285.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.64 million. Sotera Health had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 42.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Sotera Health will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sotera Health Profile

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.