Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Upgraded to “Buy” at Craig Hallum

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) was upgraded by analysts at Craig Hallum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm currently has a $12.00 target price on the stock. Craig Hallum‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 17.08% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Vital Farms from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Zacks Research raised Vital Farms from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Benchmark upgraded Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vital Farms from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.55.

Vital Farms Stock Up 11.6%

VITL stock traded up $1.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.25. The stock had a trading volume of 3,171,657 shares, 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.06. The company has a market capitalization of $440.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -255.45 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in Vital Farms during the third quarter valued at about $95,000. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its position in Vital Farms by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 216,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,011,000 after buying an additional 86,677 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 77.0% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044 shares during the last quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 91.1% during the third quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 53,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 25,275 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Vital Farms by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.