Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Stock

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $44.00 to $48.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective points to a potential upside of 5.54% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on VITL. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.89.

Vital Farms Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of VITL stock opened at $45.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.61 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Vital Farms has a fifty-two week low of $27.91 and a fifty-two week high of $46.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.90.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.09. Vital Farms had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 19.06%. The firm had revenue of $184.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. Vital Farms’s revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Thilo Wrede sold 1,200 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.97, for a total value of $46,764.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 56,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,189,607.39. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 5,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.34, for a total transaction of $201,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 6,872,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,219,303.80. This trade represents a 0.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 67,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,413,630. Insiders own 21.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Vital Farms by 20,650.0% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Vital Farms by 36.2% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Vital Farms by 43.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Vital Farms by 18.9% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Vital Farms by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during 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.