Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.00.

VITL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. TheStreet raised shares of Vital Farms from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Lake Street Capital raised their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, William Blair started coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of VITL stock traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.00. 393,973 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 542,531. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Vital Farms has a 52-week low of $10.00 and a 52-week high of $27.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.55 and a beta of 0.89.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $135.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.10 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 14.22%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.04 EPS. Research analysts predict that Vital Farms will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other news, Chairman Matthew Ohayer sold 100,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.38, for a total transaction of $2,138,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 7,582,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $162,119,772.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $426,408.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,463,068.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Matthew Ohayer sold 100,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.38, for a total transaction of $2,138,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 7,582,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $162,119,772.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,580,996. Insiders own 30.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VITL. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Vital Farms by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,062,551 shares of the company's stock worth $23,884,000 after purchasing an additional 413,475 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in Vital Farms by 79.3% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 524,598 shares of the company's stock worth $6,075,000 after purchasing an additional 231,985 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in Vital Farms by 725.5% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 250,953 shares of the company's stock worth $2,906,000 after purchasing an additional 220,552 shares during the period. Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Vital Farms in the 4th quarter worth $3,016,000. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its position in Vital Farms by 82.1% in the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 373,392 shares of the company's stock worth $8,681,000 after purchasing an additional 168,296 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.