Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Stock Rating Lowered by Stifel Nicolaus

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $40.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $30.00. Stifel Nicolaus' target price would suggest a potential upside of 9.86% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VITL. William Blair started coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Lake Street Capital increased their target price on Vital Farms from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, TheStreet raised Vital Farms from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.60.

Vital Farms Price Performance

Shares of VITL traded down $1.56 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $36.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,786,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,426. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.78 and a beta of 0.79. 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 12-month low of $10.00 and a 12-month high of $39.25.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $147.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $139.87 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 5.42%. Research analysts expect that Vital Farms will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Karl Khoury sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.27, for a total transaction of $85,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 155,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,298,317.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Karl Khoury sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.27, for a total value of $85,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 155,069 shares in the company, valued at $3,298,317.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 9,735 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $292,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 403,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,110,790. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 269,860 shares of company stock valued at $5,873,046 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 30.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VITL. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 9.2% during the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,650,008 shares of the company's stock worth $61,613,000 after purchasing an additional 224,335 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,801,952 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,895,000 after buying an additional 152,743 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 116.1% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 862,644 shares of the company's stock worth $20,056,000 after buying an additional 463,471 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 79.3% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 524,598 shares of the company's stock worth $6,075,000 after buying an additional 231,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 477,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,109,000 after acquiring an additional 77,710 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.