Analyst: Grab This Weed Stock Now

Roth Capital just started coverage with a "buy" rating and a $25 price target

Tomato turned pot concern Village Farms International Inc (NASDAQ:VFF) is getting some analyst recognition today, after Roth Capital initiated coverage on the stock with a "buy" rating and a $25 price target -- more than double the stock's current perch at $12.44. The analyst said it liked that Village Farms planned on converting one of its massive tomato greenhouses into an infrastructure for growing marijuana and hemp products, and predicted an easy transitionfrom produce to pot for the greenhouse name once weed becomes federally legal in the lower half of North America.

Despite the upbeat outlook, VFF stock is lower today, testing a key area of support atop its rising 80-day moving average. While the stock has seen an impressive 281.9% year-to-date surge, spiking to an all-time high at $18.10 in late March, the shares have cooled off slightly, trading neatly between the $12 and $14 regions of late.

While analysts have been relatively quiet on the stock, the two others who follow VFF call it a "strong buy." Plus, the consensus 12-month target price sits all the way up at $32.08, representing a whopping 158% premium to current levels.

Short interest has hit an all-time high, up 68.8% during the last two reporting periods. The roughly 3.8 million VFF shares sold short represents a healthy 9.9% of the stock's available float, or two times the average daily pace of trading.