Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $32.18, but opened at $37.93. Vital Farms shares last traded at $36.0310, with a volume of 1,084,786 shares.

The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.06. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 18.40% and a net margin of 7.84%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.16 earnings per share. Vital Farms has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VITL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vital Farms from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Vital Farms from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $49.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Joanne Bal sold 4,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $244,356.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 43,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,207,765.40. The trade was a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 145,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.98, for a total value of $7,537,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,582,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $342,135,998.60. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 407,868 shares of company stock valued at $20,692,884 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 21.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 228.7% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 13,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 9,197 shares during the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,728,000. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 618,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,454,000 after purchasing an additional 14,700 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 76,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,828,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.30. The stock has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.72 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.48.

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.