Head to Head Survey: STERIS (STE) and Its Competitors

STERIS (NYSE:STE) is one of 511 public companies in the “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare STERIS to similar companies based on the strength of its dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for STERIS and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
STERIS	0	1	3	0	2.75
STERIS Competitors	4237	10435	18122	818	2.46

STERIS currently has a consensus price target of $271.33, suggesting a potential upside of 18.79%. As a group, “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies have a potential upside of 25.07%. Given STERIS’s competitors higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe STERIS has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares STERIS and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
STERIS	$6.04 billion	N/A	27.92
STERIS Competitors	$840.40 million	$55.25 million	11.29

STERIS has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its competitors. STERIS is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

STERIS pays an annual dividend of $2.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. STERIS pays out 33.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.4% and pay out 57.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. STERIS has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

STERIS has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, STERIS’s competitors have a beta of 1.27, meaning that their average share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.7% of STERIS shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.6% of shares of all “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of STERIS shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.9% of shares of all “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares STERIS and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
STERIS	N/A	N/A	N/A
STERIS Competitors	-367.60%	-172.56%	-24.30%

Summary

STERIS beats its competitors on 9 of the 14 factors compared.

About STERIS

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. It also provides capital equipment installation, maintenance, upgradation, repair, and troubleshooting services; preventive maintenance programs and repair services; instrument and endoscope repair and maintenance services; and custom process improvement consulting and outsourced instrument sterile processing services. The Applied Sterilization Technologies segment provides contract sterilization and testing services for medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers through a network of approximately 50 contract sterilization and laboratory facilities. The Life Sciences segment designs, manufactures and sells consumable products, such as formulated cleaning chemistries, barrier, sterility assurance products, steam and vaporized hydrogen peroxide sterilizers, and washer disinfectors. This segment also offers equipment installation, maintenance, upgradation, repair, and troubleshooting services; and preventive maintenance programs and repair services. The Dental segment provides hand and electric-powered dental instruments, infection control products, conscious sedation, personal protective equipment, and water quality products for dental suite. The company serves its products and services to hospitals, other healthcare providers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.