Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $180,000 in SunOpta Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of SunOpta Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 28,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of SunOpta by 7.9% during the third quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 25,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in SunOpta by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 254,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of SunOpta by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 30,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 2,617 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of SunOpta by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 13,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 3,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of SunOpta by 10.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 36,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 3,521 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.39% of the company’s stock.

SunOpta Price Performance

Shares of STKL opened at $7.73 on Friday. SunOpta Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.88 and a 12 month high of $8.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $7.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.29. The company has a market cap of $923.51 million, a P/E ratio of -42.94 and a beta of 1.78.

SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02. The business had revenue of $176.22 million during 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, research analysts forecast that SunOpta Inc. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of SunOpta in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of SunOpta from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of SunOpta from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SunOpta has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at SunOpta

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

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.