Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases New Holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in Vital Farms, purchasing 33,673 shares valued at approximately $1,026,000, representing about 0.08% of the company.
• Vital Farms reported $0.37 earnings per share in its latest quarterly results, surpassing analyst expectations, while revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year.
• Equities research analysts have set an average target price of $44.00 for Vital Farms shares, with most giving the stock a "Buy" or "Outperform" rating.

Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 33,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,026,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned approximately 0.08% of Vital Farms at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 53.2% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 23,177 shares of the company's stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 8,049 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,236,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,307,000 after acquiring an additional 87,980 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 6.6% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,421 shares of the company's stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 84,592 shares of the company's stock worth $3,188,000 after buying an additional 17,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the fourth quarter worth $1,114,000. 98.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Vital Farms stock opened at $35.27 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.00. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.91 and a 1-year high of $45.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.35 and a quick ratio of 2.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.49 and a beta of 0.94.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $162.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $164.43 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 8.26%. The company's revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VITL shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Vital Farms to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Thilo Wrede sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.97, for a total transaction of $46,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,189,607.39. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.17, for a total value of $1,175,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 6,858,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $268,662,721.30. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 67,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,413,630. Company insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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