Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL)

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $45.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 37.24% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Vital Farms from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut Vital Farms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Mizuho cut their price target on Vital Farms from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. DA Davidson set a $52.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Wednesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.42.

Vital Farms Stock Up 1.8%

VITL opened at $32.79 on Thursday. Vital Farms has a twelve month low of $28.87 and a twelve month high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.65.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $198.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.35 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Farms

In related news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total value of $829,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 6,391,190 shares in the company, valued at $211,995,772.30. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 16,734 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total value of $586,526.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 649,684 shares in the company, valued at $22,771,424.20. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 86,401 shares of company stock valued at $3,008,045 in the last three months. 21.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,863,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,262,000 after purchasing an additional 432,848 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in Vital Farms by 13.9% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,362,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,218,000 after buying an additional 287,718 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,315,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,291,000 after buying an additional 39,361 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 35.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,687,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,017,000 after buying an additional 444,402 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 23.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,377,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,692,000 after acquiring an additional 258,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

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.