Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.63.

UTZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Utz Brands in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Utz Brands from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Utz Brands from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st.

Insider Activity at Utz Brands

In related news, major shareholder Series U. Of Um Partners, Llc sold 446,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.40, for a total value of $7,764,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 397,885 shares in the company, valued at $6,923,199. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Series U. Of Um Partners, Llc sold 446,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.40, for a total transaction of $7,764,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 397,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,923,199. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 3,785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.13, for a total value of $72,407.05. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,399,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,031,861.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 609,181 shares of company stock worth $10,754,925. 17.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Utz Brands by 47.5% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 594,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,986,000 after purchasing an additional 191,441 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in Utz Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $698,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Utz Brands by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,952,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,946,000 after purchasing an additional 199,472 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Utz Brands by 96.5% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 409,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 200,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Utz Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $852,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UTZ opened at $18.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50 day moving average is $18.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.89. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -60.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.97. Utz Brands has a 12 month low of $11.17 and a 12 month high of $19.21.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $352.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.63 million. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 1.73% and a positive return on equity of 6.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Utz Brands will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.059 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This is a positive change from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is -77.42%.

Utz Brands Company Profile

Utz Brands, Inc engages in manufacture, marketing, and distribution of snack foods. It offers a range of salty snacks, including salty snacks, including potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, pork skins, veggie snacks, pub/party mixes, tortilla chips, salsa and dips, ready-to-eat popcorn, and other snacks under the Utz, Zapp's, ON THE BORDER, Golden Flake, Boulder Canyon, Hawaiian, TORTIYAHS!, etc.