STERIS plc (STE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.57 on December 19th

STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.57 per share by the medical equipment provider on Thursday, December 19th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th.

STERIS has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. STERIS has a payout ratio of 22.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect STERIS to earn $9.93 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.0%.

STERIS Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of STE opened at $220.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.55. STERIS has a 1-year low of $195.47 and a 1-year high of $248.24. The company has a market capitalization of $21.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.26 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.26.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.02. STERIS had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 13.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that STERIS will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at STERIS

In other STERIS news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total value of $5,763,004.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,603,710. The trade was a 35.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, STERIS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.00.

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.