SunOpta Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of SunOpta Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.40.

STKL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on SunOpta from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on SunOpta from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of SunOpta from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th.

Insider Transactions at SunOpta

In other news, CEO Brian W. Kocher acquired 36,000 shares of SunOpta stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.75 per share, with a total value of $243,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 36,000 shares in the company, valued at $243,000. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other SunOpta news, CEO Brian W. Kocher acquired 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.75 per share, with a total value of $243,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 36,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Ennen sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.89, for a total value of $1,033,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,743,399 shares in the company, valued at $12,012,019.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of SunOpta by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,748,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,835,000 after buying an additional 437,740 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in SunOpta by 2.5% in the first quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 4,802,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,979,000 after acquiring an additional 118,400 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in SunOpta by 24.2% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,578,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,258,000 after purchasing an additional 890,776 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in SunOpta by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,904,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granahan Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SunOpta by 1,291.2% in the 4th quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 2,393,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,094,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221,718 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.39% of the company’s stock.

SunOpta Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STKL opened at $5.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $697.97 million, a P/E ratio of -3.86 and a beta of 1.73. The company’s 50-day moving average is $6.44 and its 200 day moving average is $5.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.19. SunOpta has a fifty-two week low of $2.79 and a fifty-two week high of $8.56.

SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.04. SunOpta had a negative net margin of 22.85% and a positive return on equity of 4.05%. The firm had revenue of $181.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $165.10 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that SunOpta will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

About SunOpta

SunOpta Inc engages in manufacture and sale of plant-based and fruit-based food and beverage products in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company provides plant-based beverages utilizing oat, almond, soy, coconut, rice, hemp, and other bases under the Dream and West Life brands; oat-based creamers under the SOWN brand; ready-to-drink protein shakes; and nut, grain, seed, and legume based beverages; packaged teas and concentrates; and meat and vegetable broths and stocks.