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

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.63.

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

Utz Brands Price Performance

Shares of UTZ opened at $18.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of -60.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.89. Utz Brands has a 1-year low of $11.17 and a 1-year high of $19.21.

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

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This is a boost from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is -77.42%.

Insider Transactions at Utz Brands

In other news, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total transaction of $1,641,622.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,556,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,299,541.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Utz Brands 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 shares were sold at an average price of $17.40, for a total value of $7,764,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 397,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,923,199. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total transaction of $1,641,622.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,556,154 shares in the company, valued at $63,299,541.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 609,181 shares of company stock valued at $10,754,925 in the last ninety days. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathstone Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Utz Brands by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 300,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,035,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC now owns 49,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 13,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 18,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.