Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Given “Outperform” Rating at Telsey Advisory Group

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Telsey Advisory Group in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $52.00 price target on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 44.32% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Vital Farms currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.63.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of VITL opened at $36.03 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 3.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17 and a beta of 0.94. Vital Farms has a one year low of $27.91 and a one year high of $48.41.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $165.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. As a group, research analysts predict that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total value of $589,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,970,890 shares in the company, valued at $205,362,419.40. This trade represents a 0.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total transaction of $1,520,227.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 703,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,708,865.84. The trade was a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 93,124 shares of company stock valued at $3,019,308. Insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 417.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,550 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,236,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,307,000 after purchasing an additional 87,980 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,209,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,855,000 after purchasing an additional 37,614 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Vital Farms by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,058,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,904,000 after buying an additional 415,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Vital Farms by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 978,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,806,000 after buying an additional 113,874 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.