SunOpta, Inc. $STKL Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of SunOpta, Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) by 78.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 52,715 shares of the company’s stock after selling 195,000 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in SunOpta were worth $306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new position in shares of SunOpta during the 2nd quarter valued at about $68,000. Savvy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in SunOpta during the second quarter worth about $89,000. NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in SunOpta during the second quarter worth about $90,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in SunOpta by 11.9% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in SunOpta in the first quarter valued at approximately $81,000. 85.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STKL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of SunOpta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of SunOpta from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of SunOpta in a report on Monday, December 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.00.

SunOpta Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of SunOpta stock opened at $3.77 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $4.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $455.23 million, a PE ratio of 19.42 and a beta of 1.11. SunOpta, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.32 and a twelve month high of $8.05.

SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that SunOpta, Inc. will post 0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Greg Gaba acquired 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 110,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,188.30. This trade represents a 15.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

SunOpta 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.