Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Craig Hallum

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Craig Hallum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $12.00 price target on the stock. Craig Hallum‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.08% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on VITL. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Vital Farms from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Vital Farms from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.55.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.25. 3,171,657 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,271,348. Vital Farms has a one year low of $7.95 and a one year high of $38.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.75 and a 200 day moving average of $14.06. The company has a market cap of $440.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -255.45 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.04). Vital Farms had a net margin of 0.02% and a return on equity of 3.46%. The company had revenue of $182.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. Vital Farms’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vital Farms will post -0.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 2nd quarter valued at $60,153,000. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 1,998.7% in the 1st quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 2,261,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,933,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153,775 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in Vital Farms during the 2nd quarter worth $12,975,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Vital Farms during the 2nd quarter worth $8,086,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Vital Farms by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,153,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,400,000 after buying an additional 632,537 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vital Farms Company Profile

Vital Farms, Inc is a food company that produces and markets pasture-raised eggs and other ethically sourced food products. Its offerings include pasture-raised eggs, butter, hard-boiled eggs and ghee, sold under the Vital Farms brand.

Founded in 2007, the company works with a network of family farms and focuses on animal welfare, outdoor access and supply-chain transparency. Vital Farms products are distributed primarily through grocery retailers and other food channels across the United States.

Vital Farms is headquartered in Austin, Texas.