Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VITL. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. TheStreet raised shares of Vital Farms from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, William Blair started coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $426,408.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,463,068.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Jason Dale sold 14,006 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.03, for a total transaction of $224,516.18. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 48,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $776,733.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $426,408.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,568 shares in the company, valued at $3,463,068.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 260,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,580,996 in the last 90 days. 30.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Vital Farms by 82.1% in the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 373,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,681,000 after buying an additional 168,296 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the first quarter worth about $656,000. Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the fourth quarter worth about $3,016,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 211.4% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 4,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the fourth quarter worth about $720,000. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of Vital Farms stock opened at $27.00 on Friday. Vital Farms has a 52 week low of $10.00 and a 52 week high of $27.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.55 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.64.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. Vital Farms had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The business had revenue of $135.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Vital Farms will post 0.77 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.