Utz Brands Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:UTZ)

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 24,486 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 18,173% compared to the average daily volume of 134 call options.

Utz Brands Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of Utz Brands stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.38. 645,633 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,139,287. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Utz Brands has a twelve month low of $10.06 and a twelve month high of $18.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $12.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 147.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Utz Brands had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 0.39%.The business had revenue of $377.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $374.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Utz Brands has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.824-0.847 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Utz Brands will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.061 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is 342.86%.

Insider Transactions at Utz Brands

In related news, Director Christina Choi sold 5,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.63, for a total transaction of $77,731.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,710 shares in the company, valued at $459,467.30. This trade represents a 14.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Series R. Of Um Partners, Llc bought 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.48 per share, with a total value of $157,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 615,000 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,200. This trade represents a 2.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased a total of 55,392 shares of company stock worth $584,273 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 16.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UTZ. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Utz Brands during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Utz Brands during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Utz Brands by 76.1% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Utz Brands by 37.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Utz Brands by 16.1% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on UTZ. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their price target on Utz Brands from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Mizuho set a $16.00 price target on Utz Brands in a report on Monday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Utz Brands from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Utz Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.64.

About Utz Brands

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.