Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 111,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,588,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL purchased a new stake in Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $304,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Vital Farms in the first quarter valued at approximately $656,000. Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,016,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $28.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. TheStreet raised shares of Vital Farms from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $19.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 9,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $292,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 403,693 shares in the company, valued at $12,110,790. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 9,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $292,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 403,693 shares in the company, valued at $12,110,790. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kelly J. Kennedy sold 10,971 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.35, for a total transaction of $387,824.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,868 shares in the company, valued at $525,583.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 179,056 shares of company stock worth $7,325,473. 30.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

NASDAQ VITL traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $42.53. 834,876 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 590,649. The company has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.04 and a beta of 0.98. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.27 and a 12-month high of $48.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.78 and a 200 day moving average of $27.62. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $147.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $139.87 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 7.48% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current year.

About Vital Farms

Vital Farms, Inc, a food company, provides pasture-raised products in the United States. It offers shell eggs, butter, hard-boiled eggs, and liquid whole eggs. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.