Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) shares reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $8.71 and last traded at $8.72, with a volume of 426121 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on UTZ. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Utz Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho set a $14.00 price target on Utz Brands in a report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Utz Brands in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Utz Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Utz Brands in a report on Monday, December 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Utz Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.86.

Utz Brands Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 864.86, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.26. Utz Brands had a net margin of 0.06% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $342.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $346.99 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Utz Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.771-0.795 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Utz Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UTZ. Tributary Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 93.2% in the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 1,688,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,521,000 after purchasing an additional 814,555 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 560.6% in the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 112,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after buying an additional 95,733 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Utz Brands by 42.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 327,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,983,000 after acquiring an additional 97,271 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 10.8% during the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 3,131,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,043,000 after acquiring an additional 304,163 shares during the period. Finally, Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Utz Brands in the third quarter valued at about $3,274,000. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Utz Brands

Utz Brands, Inc is a leading U.S. manufacturer and distributor of salty snack foods, offering a wide range of products including potato chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, popcorn and tortilla chips. Headquartered in Hanover, Pennsylvania, the company markets its snacks under several well-known brands and serves grocery, mass merchandise, club, convenience and online retailers throughout the United States.

Founded in 1921 by Bill and Salie Utz as a small country store operation, the business expanded gradually through direct delivery to local customers and sales to regional grocers.