Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 27,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $468,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Sotera Health in the 3rd quarter worth $58,000. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC purchased a new position in Sotera Health during the third quarter worth about $220,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Sotera Health by 79.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 6,580 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Sotera Health in the 3rd quarter valued at about $244,000. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners bought a new position in shares of Sotera Health during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $250,000. 91.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on SHC. TheStreet raised Sotera Health from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Sotera Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $15.00 to $15.50 in a research report on Monday, March 25th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Sotera Health in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Sotera Health from $19.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Sotera Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Pincus & Co. Warburg sold 16,594,363 shares of Sotera Health stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total value of $237,465,334.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 88,822,952 shares in the company, valued at $1,271,056,443.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Sotera Health news, insider Michael P. Rutz sold 83,109 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total value of $1,189,289.79. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,790,492.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Pincus & Co. Warburg sold 16,594,363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total transaction of $237,465,334.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 88,822,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,271,056,443.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 55.12% of the company’s stock.

Sotera Health Price Performance

NASDAQ SHC opened at $11.38 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.16. The company has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 63.22 and a beta of 2.11. Sotera Health has a 52 week low of $10.71 and a 52 week high of $19.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.09.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. The company had revenue of $310.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $302.17 million. Sotera Health had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Sotera Health’s revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. Research analysts predict that Sotera Health will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Sotera Health Profile

Sotera Health Company engages in the provision of sterilization, lab testing, and advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Sterigenics, Nordion, and Nelson Labs. It provides mission-critical end-to-end sterilization services, including gamma and electron beam irradiation, and ethylene oxide processing, as well as designs, installs, and maintains gamma irradiation systems.