Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Upgraded at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Vital Farms was upgraded from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating by Weiss Ratings in a recent note to investors.
• Other analysts including Zacks Research and Cowen have also issued optimistic ratings for Vital Farms, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a price target of $49.80.
• Despite an insider selling 145,000 shares, institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds owning 98.59% of the company's stock.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Zacks Research upgraded Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Vital Farms from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Vital Farms from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.80.

Vital Farms Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of VITL stock traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $38.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 833,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,039,576. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vital Farms has a one year low of $27.91 and a one year high of $53.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.03 and a beta of 0.92. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $45.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.11.

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, beating 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 analyst estimates of $170.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. Vital Farms has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 145,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.98, for a total value of $7,537,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,582,070 shares in the company, valued at $342,135,998.60. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joanne Bal sold 4,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $244,356.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 43,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,207,765.40. This represents a 9.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 407,868 shares of company stock worth $20,692,884 over the last three months. Company insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Vital Farms by 0.4% during the third quarter. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,724 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,828,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Vital Farms by 0.4% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,420 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,298,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Vital Farms by 18.9% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Vital Farms by 36.2% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,929 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Vital Farms by 6.6% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.