Stephens Reaffirms "Overweight" Rating for SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL)

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL - Free Report) TSE: SOY in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $10.00 target price on the stock.

STKL has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com upgraded SunOpta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of SunOpta in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SunOpta has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $9.50.

SunOpta Price Performance

SunOpta stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $7.74. The company had a trading volume of 311,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 781,085. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. SunOpta has a fifty-two week low of $4.88 and a fifty-two week high of $8.11. The company has a market cap of $925.26 million, a P/E ratio of -43.00 and a beta of 1.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.42.

SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL - Get Free Report) TSE: SOY last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02. The company had revenue of $176.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.30 million. SunOpta had a negative net margin of 2.74% and a positive return on equity of 7.92%. On average, equities research analysts predict that SunOpta will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at SunOpta

In other news, Director Rebecca Fisher sold 13,142 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.58, for a total transaction of $99,616.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 108,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $822,430. The trade was a 10.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert Duchscher sold 50,000 shares of SunOpta stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.33, for a total value of $366,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,971 shares of the company's stock, valued at $314,977.43. This trade represents a 53.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. US Bancorp DE raised its position in SunOpta by 139.3% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 4,772 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SunOpta during the second quarter valued at approximately $60,000. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in SunOpta during the second quarter worth $63,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in SunOpta during the third quarter worth $79,000. Finally, Tealwood Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in SunOpta in the 3rd quarter valued at $80,000. Institutional investors own 85.39% of the company's stock.

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.