First Eagle Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in Utz Brands, Inc. $UTZ

First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) by 13.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 640,530 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,400 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Utz Brands were worth $8,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UTZ. Outfitter Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 9.3% during the second quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC now owns 59,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,000 after buying an additional 5,045 shares during the period. Bryce Point Capital LLC purchased a new position in Utz Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $737,000. Astra Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Utz Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,155,000. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 29,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 5,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 435,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,470,000 after purchasing an additional 17,672 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Christina Choi sold 5,703 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.63, for a total value of $77,731.89. Following the sale, the director directly owned 33,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,467.30. This represents a 14.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dylan Lissette purchased 31,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.58 per share, with a total value of $335,915.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 145,783 shares in the company, valued at $1,542,384.14. The trade was a 27.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders bought 55,392 shares of company stock valued at $584,273. Insiders own 16.32% of the company’s stock.

Utz Brands Price Performance

Shares of UTZ opened at $9.89 on Friday. Utz Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.77 and a fifty-two week high of $17.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.85. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 141.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.22.

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

Utz Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.061 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is 342.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Utz Brands 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.