Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Coverage Initiated at Telsey Advisory Group

Stock analysts at Telsey Advisory Group initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 20.54% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on VITL. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Vital Farms from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vital Farms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.57.

Vital Farms Price Performance

Vital Farms stock opened at $43.14 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $37.63 and its 200 day moving average is $35.73. Vital Farms has a one year low of $14.37 and a one year high of $48.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.52 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.81.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The firm had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total value of $1,684,456.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 613,797 shares in the company, valued at $23,115,595.02. This trade represents a 6.79 % 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 hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $916,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,038,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $268,815,209.10. The trade was a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,202 shares of company stock worth $7,855,957 over the last three months. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 242.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 88,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,117,000 after purchasing an additional 62,325 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 317.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 74,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,469,000 after buying an additional 56,414 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Vital Farms by 651.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 494,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,112,000 after acquiring an additional 428,382 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Vital Farms in the second quarter valued at about $362,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 180.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. 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.