Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Earns “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 39.58% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vital Farms from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vital Farms from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $13.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $11.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.18.

Vital Farms Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of VITL opened at $10.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $430.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -250.75 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.23. Vital Farms has a 52-week low of $7.95 and a 52-week high of $46.94.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.47). Vital Farms had a return on equity of 3.46% and a net margin of 0.02%.The company had revenue of $166.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Vital Farms will post -0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Vital Farms in the 4th quarter valued at $6,901,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 46.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,405,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,836,000 after purchasing an additional 447,728 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 1,998.7% in the first quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 2,261,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,933,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153,775 shares during the last quarter. Skylands Capital LLC acquired a new position in Vital Farms in the first quarter valued at about $1,943,000. Finally, Expect Equity LLC bought a new position in Vital Farms during the second quarter worth about $1,319,000. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vital Farms Company Profile

Vital Farms, Inc is a food company focused on ethically produced pasture-raised eggs and other products. The company’s offerings include pasture-raised eggs, butter, ghee and hard-boiled eggs, which are sold under the Vital Farms brand through grocery retailers and other distribution channels.

Founded in 2007, Vital Farms works with a network of family farms and emphasizes animal welfare, pasture access and supply-chain transparency. Its products are marketed primarily in the United States and are available through retail and foodservice channels.

The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.