SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) Trading 6.5% Higher – Still a Buy?

SunOpta, Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) traded up 6.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $4.68 and last traded at $4.4950. 436,561 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 1,152,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STKL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on SunOpta from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of SunOpta in a report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson set a $8.00 price target on shares of SunOpta in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research cut SunOpta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.00.

SunOpta Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $3.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $540.36 million, a P/E ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.08.

SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.02. SunOpta had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 0.16%.The company had revenue of $205.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.57 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SunOpta, Inc. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at SunOpta

In related news, CFO Greg Gaba bought 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $3.39 per share, with a total value of $50,850.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 110,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,188.30. This represents a 15.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SunOpta

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in SunOpta in the third quarter valued at $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in SunOpta by 764.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in SunOpta by 65.5% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 9,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 3,669 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in SunOpta in the third quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new position in SunOpta in the second quarter valued at approximately $68,000. 85.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About SunOpta

SunOpta Inc (NASDAQ: STKL) is a Canada-based company specializing in the sourcing, processing and packaging of organic and non-GMO plant-based foods and beverages. The company’s product portfolio spans a wide range of offerings, including non-dairy beverages such as oat, almond, soy and coconut drinks, fruit and plant-based beverages, and ingredient solutions for food manufacturers and foodservice customers. SunOpta’s integrated supply chain extends from ingredient sourcing and raw material preparation through to finished product formulation and packaging.

SunOpta operates through two primary business segments: Global Beverages and Global Ingredients.