Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Upgraded at Benchmark

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Benchmark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on VITL. Mizuho set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down from $34.00) on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Craig Hallum lowered Vital Farms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Telsey Advisory Group downgraded Vital Farms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $11.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.08.

Vital Farms Stock Up 1.0%

Vital Farms stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $12.37. The stock had a trading volume of 2,550,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,528,516. The firm has a market capitalization of $529.94 million, a PE ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.07. Vital Farms has a fifty-two week low of $7.95 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.47). Vital Farms had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The firm had revenue of $166.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Farms will post -0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In related news, Director Glenda J. Flanagan bought 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.33 per share, for a total transaction of $50,813.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 37,498 shares in the company, valued at $312,358.34. The trade was a 19.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Peter Nicholas Pappas bought 3,500 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.51 per share, with a total value of $29,785.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $724,788.19. This trade represents a 4.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought 38,700 shares of company stock valued at $320,864 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 89.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 19,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 9,136 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 415,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,658,000 after acquiring an additional 13,397 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Vital Farms in the 1st quarter worth about $1,073,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Vital Farms by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 89,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vital Farms Company Profile

Vital Farms, traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol VITL, is a U.S.-based food company specializing in pasture-raised egg and dairy products. The company partners with a network of family farms across the United States to produce eggs, butter and related items under a certified humane, pasture-centric farming model. Vital Farms’ supply chain emphasizes animal welfare, environmental stewardship and transparent sourcing, appealing to consumers seeking ethically produced, high-quality ingredients.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Vital Farms began by marketing pasture-raised eggs to health- and ethically minded shoppers.