STERIS plc $STE Holdings Boosted by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 573,489 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,655 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in STERIS were worth $145,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STE. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in STERIS in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in STERIS by 115.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 112 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management lifted 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in STERIS in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in STERIS by 416.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 129 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on STE shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of STERIS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.75.

STERIS Stock Performance

STE opened at $216.03 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $220.26 and its 200-day moving average is $243.13. The stock has a market cap of $21.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $195.14 and a twelve month high of $269.44.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. STERIS had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.74 EPS. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. On average, analysts predict that STERIS plc will post 11.18 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. STERIS’s payout ratio is 31.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In other 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 transaction of $734,876.58. Following the sale, the director owned 705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,233.05. The trade was a 81.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

STERIS 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.