Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in STERIS plc $STE

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,111 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in STERIS by 259.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 51,602 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $13,165,000 after acquiring an additional 37,228 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in STERIS by 9.4% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,039,351 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $257,157,000 after acquiring an additional 89,250 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in STERIS by 5.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 693,116 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $171,505,000 after acquiring an additional 34,981 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in STERIS during the third quarter worth about $2,480,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in STERIS during the third quarter worth about $1,163,000. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In related news, Director Cynthia L. Feldmann sold 3,098 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.21, for a total transaction of $734,876.58. Following the transaction, the director owned 705 shares in the company, valued at $167,233.05. This represents a 81.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

STERIS Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of STERIS stock opened at $215.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18 and a beta of 0.95. STERIS plc has a 52-week low of $195.14 and a 52-week high of $269.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $241.13.

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

STERIS Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. STERIS’s payout ratio is presently 31.78%.

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.