Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.20.

Several brokerages have commented on VITL. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th.

Vital Farms Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of VITL opened at $28.43 on Wednesday. Vital Farms has a 52-week low of $11.72 and a 52-week high of $48.41. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 25.38 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.93 and a 200 day moving average of $36.75.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 23.29%. The company had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vital Farms will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In related news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $1,789,245.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,531,574.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total value of $938,160.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,194,777 shares in the company, valued at $281,243,832.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $1,789,245.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537,349 shares of the company’s stock, 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 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Farms

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,801,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,895,000 after buying an additional 152,743 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Vital Farms by 29.7% in the second 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. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Farms by 116.1% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 862,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,056,000 after acquiring an additional 463,471 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Vital Farms by 73.0% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 784,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,675,000 after purchasing an additional 331,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 106.8% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 706,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,775,000 after purchasing an additional 364,837 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.