Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Reaches New 1-Year High After Earnings Beat

Key Points

• Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) reached a new 52-week high of $45.75 after reporting better-than-expected earnings, with an EPS of $0.36 compared to the analysts' estimate of $0.27.
• The company's revenue for the quarter was $184.77 million, significantly exceeding expectations of $170.28 million and reflecting a year-over-year increase of 25.4%.
• Despite the positive performance, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target for Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00, although other firms maintained or raised their ratings and targets for the stock.

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $45.72 and last traded at $45.75, with a volume of 223254 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.86.

The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.09. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 18.40% and a net margin of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $184.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $170.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VITL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho increased their target price on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Vital Farms from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 price target on Vital Farms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.20.

Insider Activity

In other Vital Farms news, CFO Thilo Wrede sold 1,200 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 56,187 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,189,607.39. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 5,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.34, for a total value of $201,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 6,872,070 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $277,219,303.80. This trade represents a 0.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 67,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,413,630. Corporate insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased 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 worth $706,000 after buying an additional 8,049 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 6.6% in 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 during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 25.2% in 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 during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vital Farms in the fourth quarter worth about $1,114,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 7.7% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,407 shares of the company's stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 41.17 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

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.