SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

SunOpta, Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) shares 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 trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

SunOpta Stock Up 32.4%

The stock has a market cap of $772.45 million, a P/E ratio of 25.90 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.11. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.05 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 company had revenue of $205.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.57 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that SunOpta, Inc. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Greg Gaba acquired 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.39 per share, for a total transaction of $50,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 110,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,188.30. The trade was a 15.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SunOpta

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in STKL. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in SunOpta in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,981 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of SunOpta in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of SunOpta by 65.5% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 9,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 3,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in SunOpta during the third quarter worth about $61,000. Institutional investors own 85.39% of the company’s stock.

SunOpta Company Profile

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.