Jane Street Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in SunOpta Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL)

Jane Street Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of SunOpta Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSE:SOY) by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,266 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,039 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC owned 0.10% of SunOpta worth $742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in STKL. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in SunOpta by 139.3% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 4,772 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of SunOpta during the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SunOpta in the second quarter valued at about $63,000. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in SunOpta during the third quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in SunOpta during the third quarter worth about $85,000. 85.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at SunOpta

In other news, insider Robert Duchscher sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.33, for a total value of $366,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,977.43. This trade represents a 53.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rebecca Fisher sold 13,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 108,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $822,430. The trade was 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 currently owned by company insiders.

SunOpta Stock Performance

Shares of STKL stock opened at $7.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $925.26 million, a P/E ratio of -43.00 and a beta of 1.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $7.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.42. SunOpta Inc. has a one year low of $4.88 and a one year high of $8.11.

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 positive return on equity of 7.92% and a negative net margin of 2.74%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SunOpta Inc. will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

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.