StockNews.com Downgrades SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

SunOpta Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STKL opened at $6.21 on Monday. SunOpta has a twelve month low of $2.79 and a twelve month high of $7.59. The company has a market capitalization of $741.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.09 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.93.

SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $171.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.95 million. SunOpta had a positive return on equity of 6.51% and a negative net margin of 23.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.03) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SunOpta will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of SunOpta

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STKL. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in SunOpta by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 60,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 2,578 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of SunOpta by 89.3% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SunOpta in the 4th quarter valued at $530,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in SunOpta by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 28,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 7,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in SunOpta during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Hedge funds and other 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.