Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Invests $5.51 Million in STERIS plc $STE

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS bought a new position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 24,900 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,506,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in STE. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of STERIS in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in STERIS by 115.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 112 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in STERIS by 423.8% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of STERIS during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 416.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 129 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. 94.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

STERIS Price Performance

STE traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $215.76. 582,912 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 800,373. STERIS plc has a 1-year low of $195.14 and a 1-year high of $269.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.03 billion, a PE ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $211.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.46.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.86 by ($0.03). STERIS had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. The firm’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. As a group, equities 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. Shareholders 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Adam Zangerle sold 1,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 35,259 shares in the company, valued at $7,379,003.52. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 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 sale, the director directly owned 38,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,163,347.64. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,328 shares of company stock valued at $1,554,051. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

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.