Verition Fund Management LLC Purchases Shares of 25,766 SunOpta Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL)

Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of SunOpta Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 25,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in SunOpta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of SunOpta by 139.3% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 4,772 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of SunOpta in the second quarter valued at approximately $60,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SunOpta during the second quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Tealwood Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in SunOpta during the third quarter worth $80,000. 85.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on STKL shares. Stephens raised their price objective on SunOpta from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SunOpta from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of SunOpta in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.50.

SunOpta Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:STKL opened at $7.75 on Tuesday. SunOpta Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.62 and a 12 month high of $8.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $7.00 and its 200 day moving average is $6.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $925.90 million, a PE ratio of -43.72 and a beta of 1.78.

SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02. The company had revenue of $176.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.30 million. SunOpta had a positive return on equity of 7.92% and a negative net margin of 2.74%. Sell-side analysts expect that SunOpta Inc. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at SunOpta

In other SunOpta news, insider Robert Duchscher sold 50,000 shares of SunOpta stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.33, for a total transaction of $366,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,971 shares in the company, valued at $314,977.43. The trade was a 53.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rebecca Fisher sold 13,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.58, for a total transaction of $99,616.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 108,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $822,430. This trade represents a 10.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SunOpta Company Profile

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.