Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus to Buy Rating

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $44.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target indicates a potential upside of 42.90% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective 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. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.57.

Vital Farms Stock Down 9.1 %

VITL opened at $30.79 on Friday. Vital Farms has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $48.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.82 and a 200-day moving average of $35.64. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49 and a beta of 0.90.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The company had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.32 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In related news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.19, for a total value of $1,036,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,014,890 shares in the company, valued at $302,973,099.10. The trade was a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were 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 owns 613,797 shares in the company, valued at $23,115,595.02. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,202 shares of company stock valued at $7,855,957. 27.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 8,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust lifted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 93.9% in the 3rd quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 531,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,646,000 after acquiring an additional 257,492 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,798,000. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 364,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 7,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

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.