SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

SunOpta, Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $4.83, but opened at $6.39. SunOpta shares last traded at $6.3850, with a volume of 13,097,100 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on STKL shares. Mizuho cut their price objective on SunOpta from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. DA Davidson set a $8.00 target price on SunOpta in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of SunOpta in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, William Blair downgraded SunOpta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.00.

SunOpta Stock Up 32.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $773.06 million, a P/E ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $205.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. On average, equities analysts expect that SunOpta, Inc. will post 0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SunOpta news, CFO Greg Gaba acquired 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $3.39 per share, with a total value of $50,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 110,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,188.30. The trade was a 15.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cooperman Leon G increased its holdings in SunOpta by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cooperman Leon G now owns 6,667,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,069,000 after buying an additional 160,058 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of SunOpta by 146.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,462,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,157,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059,976 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of SunOpta by 4.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,330,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,517,000 after acquiring an additional 98,077 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SunOpta by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,267,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,286,000 after purchasing an additional 16,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in SunOpta by 12.4% during the third quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,088,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,239,000 after purchasing an additional 230,226 shares during the period. 85.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.