Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) Shares Down 6.5% Following Weak Earnings

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) fell 6.5% on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as low as $14.22 and last traded at $14.77. 101,509 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 1,298,739 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.80.

The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Sotera Health had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 47.26%. The business had revenue of $285.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SHC has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Sotera Health from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Sotera Health from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Sotera Health in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gtcr Investment Xi Llc sold 10,000,000 shares of Sotera Health stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.03, for a total transaction of $150,300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,215,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $739,705,974.03. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 55.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Sotera Health by 43.6% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,892,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,865,000 after acquiring an additional 4,525,056 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sotera Health by 27.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,145,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,863,000 after acquiring an additional 2,579,248 shares in the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. lifted its holdings in Sotera Health by 7.5% during the second quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 4,300,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,048,000 after acquiring an additional 300,597 shares in the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Sotera Health in the second quarter valued at about $29,074,000. Finally, Untitled Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Sotera Health by 47.0% in the first quarter. Untitled Investments LP now owns 1,409,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,923,000 after purchasing an additional 450,496 shares in the last quarter. 91.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sotera Health Trading Up 4.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.44 and a beta of 2.08. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $15.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.69. The company has a quick ratio of 2.59, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.46.

About Sotera Health

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.