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

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.63.

A number of research firms have commented on UTZ. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Utz Brands in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th.

Utz Brands Stock Up 1.4 %

UTZ opened at $17.60 on Friday. Utz Brands has a 1-year low of $11.17 and a 1-year high of $19.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.10 and a 200-day moving average of $15.70.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 1.73% and a positive return on equity of 6.08%. The company had revenue of $352.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.63 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. Utz Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Utz Brands will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.059 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. This is an increase from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -77.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total value of $1,641,622.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,556,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,299,541.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total value of $1,641,622.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,556,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,299,541.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Series U. Of Um Partners, Llc sold 446,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 397,885 shares in the company, valued at $6,923,199. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 609,181 shares of company stock valued at $10,754,925 in the last three months. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Utz Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Utz Brands by 47.5% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $698,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Utz Brands by 96.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 409,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after buying an additional 200,850 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,952,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,946,000 after acquiring an additional 199,472 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Utz Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $852,000. 95.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.