William Blair Initiates Coverage on Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL)

Analysts at William Blair started coverage on shares of Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 10th, MarketBeat reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating on the stock. William Blair also issued estimates for Vital Farms’ Q1 2024 earnings at $0.18 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $0.19 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.14 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.17 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $0.68 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $0.87 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on VITL. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Vital Farms from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. TheStreet raised shares of Vital Farms from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.20.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

VITL stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.62. The company had a trading volume of 496,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,164. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.39. Vital Farms has a fifty-two week low of $10.00 and a fifty-two week high of $27.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 46.55 and a beta of 0.89.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $135.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.10 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 5.42%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Vital Farms will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In related news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total value of $426,408.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,463,068.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Vital Farms news, Chairman Matthew Ohayer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.38, for a total value of $2,138,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now 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 the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,463,068.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 280,125 shares of company stock worth $6,083,396 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 30.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Farms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VITL. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the third quarter worth $56,000. Green Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vital Farms in the third quarter valued at $445,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 24.7% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 52.8% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 2,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Vital Farms by 71.9% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 27,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 11,374 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.