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

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.00.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VITL. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VITL opened at $37.69 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $34.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65 and a beta of 0.93. Vital Farms has a 1-year low of $14.16 and a 1-year high of $48.41.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. Vital Farms’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Vital Farms will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In related news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $916,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,038,890 shares in the company, valued at $268,815,209.10. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total transaction of $1,684,456.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 613,797 shares in the company, valued at $23,115,595.02. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 137,381 shares of company stock worth $5,328,422. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 13.8% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Vital Farms by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 66.7% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 10.7% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 47,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,573 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the second quarter valued at approximately $356,000. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.