STERIS (NYSE:STE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of STERIS (NYSE:STE) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings cut STERIS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.20.

STERIS Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE STE opened at $226.25 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $230.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $245.90. STERIS has a one year low of $209.98 and a one year high of $269.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.48. The firm has a market cap of $22.19 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56 and a beta of 1.07.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53. STERIS had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.34%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. STERIS has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.150-10.300 EPS. Analysts expect that STERIS will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In other STERIS news, Director Cynthia L. Feldmann sold 3,098 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.21, for a total value of $734,876.58. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,233.05. This trade represents a 81.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,286,535 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,114,882,000 after buying an additional 73,014 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 6.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,523,620 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $637,259,000 after buying an additional 14,151 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,249,511 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $570,296,000 after buying an additional 120,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,623,234 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $411,522,000 after buying an additional 440,164 shares in the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

STERIS Company 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.