Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Downgraded by Stifel Nicolaus

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Briefing.com reports. They currently have a $40.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $30.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 5.35% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on Vital Farms from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Vital Farms from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL opened at $37.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.47 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.78. Vital Farms has a one year low of $10.00 and a one year high of $39.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 3.00.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.20. Vital Farms had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The firm had revenue of $147.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $139.87 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Farms will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,568 shares in the company, valued at $3,463,068.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Vital Farms news, Chairman Matthew Ohayer sold 100,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.38, for a total transaction of $2,138,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 7,582,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,119,772.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sold 260,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,580,996 over the last 90 days. 30.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Vital Farms by 211.4% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 4,192 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Vital Farms by 52.8% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 2,833 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Vital Farms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $127,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Vital Farms by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 10,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 3,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter valued at $119,000. 98.59% of the stock is 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.