Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.20.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VITL. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $1,789,245.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537,349 shares in the company, valued at $21,531,574.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total transaction of $938,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,194,777 shares in the company, valued at $281,243,832.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $1,789,245.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,531,574.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 30.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in Vital Farms in the first quarter valued at approximately $656,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Vital Farms by 2,006.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 148,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,454,000 after buying an additional 141,488 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the first quarter worth $1,003,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 937,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,859,000 after acquiring an additional 214,839 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,300,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Trading Down 6.1 %

VITL opened at $35.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.48 and a beta of 0.97. Vital Farms has a 52 week low of $10.54 and a 52 week high of $48.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.85. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.16. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 22.77%. The firm had revenue of $147.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. Vital Farms’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Vital Farms Company Profile

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.