Vital Farms’ (VITL) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 37.24% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Monday. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Vital Farms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.42.

Vital Farms Trading Up 1.8%

Vital Farms stock opened at $32.79 on Thursday. Vital Farms has a one year low of $28.87 and a one year high of $53.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $34.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84 and a beta of 1.06.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $198.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.35 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 8.50%.The firm’s revenue was up 37.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Vital Farms will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total value of $176,250.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 6,386,190 shares in the company, valued at $225,113,197.50. This trade represents a 0.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 16,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total transaction of $586,526.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 649,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,771,424.20. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 86,401 shares of company stock valued at $3,008,045. Insiders own 21.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Vital Farms during the third quarter worth $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Vital Farms in the third quarter valued at about $105,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Vital Farms by 18.9% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Vital Farms by 53.6% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is owned by 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.