Riverwater Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 21.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,847 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $1,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STE. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 102.2% during the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,346 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,644,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 223,570 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $54,225,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the period. Suncoast Equity Management grew its stake in STERIS by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 3,255 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $789,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Ion Advisors LLC increased its position in STERIS by 4.4% during the third quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 2,798 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $679,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

STERIS Price Performance

STE stock opened at $221.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $234.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.17. The firm has a market cap of $21.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.88 and a beta of 0.84. STERIS plc has a 1 year low of $195.47 and a 1 year high of $248.24.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.16. STERIS had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.68, for a total value of $113,368.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,493.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.68, for a total value of $113,368.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,493.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total value of $5,763,004.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,603,710. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $246.00.

STERIS Company Profile

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.