Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 price objective on Vital Farms and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Vital Farms from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Vital Farms from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Thursday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $49.80.

Vital Farms Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of VITL stock opened at $40.85 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $46.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.98. Vital Farms has a 1-year low of $27.91 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of 36.47 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.09. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 18.40% and a net margin of 7.84%.The business had revenue of $184.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. Vital Farms has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other news, insider Joanne Bal sold 4,796 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $244,356.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 43,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,207,765.40. This trade represents a 9.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 145,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.98, for a total value of $7,537,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 6,582,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $342,135,998.60. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 412,868 shares of company stock valued at $20,894,584 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 21.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VITL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 17.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,863,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,262,000 after buying an additional 432,848 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 80.2% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,074,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,921,000 after buying an additional 923,507 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 35.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 97.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,234,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,534,000 after buying an additional 608,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 3.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,209,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,855,000 after buying an additional 37,614 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.