Vital Farms, Inc. $VITL Stake Increased by Driehaus Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Driehaus Capital Management LLC has increased its holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. by 24.8%, now owning approximately 1.03% of the company, valued at about $14 million.
• Vital Farms reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.36 for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate, with a revenue increase of 25.4% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors own 98.59% of Vital Farms' stock, indicating strong confidence in the company's performance among large investors.

Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 24.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 460,693 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 91,580 shares during the quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned about 1.03% of Vital Farms worth $14,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in Vital Farms by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Vital Farms by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 84,592 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 17,017 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Vital Farms during the 4th quarter worth $1,114,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Vital Farms by 7.7% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,407 shares of the company's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Vital Farms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VITL traded up $0.81 on Tuesday, hitting $51.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,332,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,004,477. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.81 and a 200-day moving average of $35.99. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.91 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.34 and a beta of 0.93.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $184.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $170.28 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 18.40% and a net margin of 7.84%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. Vital Farms has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 16,700 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.11, for a total value of $770,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 702,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,391,168.36. The trade was a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Stephanie Coon sold 10,005 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.15, for a total transaction of $461,730.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 45,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,112,700.85. This represents a 17.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 103,901 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,052. 21.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VITL. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Vital Farms from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 price objective on Vital Farms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Vital Farms from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Vital Farms from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.80.

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.