Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $29.79, but opened at $31.39. Vital Farms shares last traded at $31.35, with a volume of 64,390 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VITL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Craig Hallum started coverage on Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 3.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 0.95.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The business had revenue of $165.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.32 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.24, for a total transaction of $1,885,086.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 668,202 shares in the company, valued at $28,224,852.48. This trade represents a 6.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Kathryn Mckeon sold 12,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $517,584.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 46,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,944,222.24. The trade was a 21.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 141,474 shares of company stock valued at $5,844,140. 27.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Vital Farms by 417.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,625,000 after buying an additional 1,961,550 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,172,000 after acquiring an additional 516,139 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 64.6% during the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,058,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,904,000 after acquiring an additional 415,614 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Vital Farms by 96.3% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 628,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,696,000 after acquiring an additional 308,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Vital Farms by 105.5% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 579,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,853,000 after acquiring an additional 297,684 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

About Vital Farms

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.