Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Up 7.1% After Earnings Beat

Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) were up 7.1% on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $33.40 and last traded at $32.99. Approximately 2,140,477 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 74% from the average daily volume of 1,229,488 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.79.

The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $165.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.57.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other news, insider Joanne Bal sold 28,246 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.10, for a total value of $1,273,894.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,677,632.10. This represents a 32.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $916,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,038,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $268,815,209.10. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,202 shares of company stock worth $7,855,957 in the last three months. Insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Vital Farms by 152.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 895 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Vital Farms by 160.3% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vital Farms Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.64.

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.