Roger K. Deromedi Sells 66,027 Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Stock

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 66,027 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.45, for a total value of $1,284,225.15. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,315,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,040,228.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Utz Brands Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Utz Brands stock opened at $18.98 on Wednesday. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.17 and a 12-month high of $20.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.92, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.97.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 6.16% and a negative net margin of 1.38%. The firm had revenue of $346.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $346.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.059 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. This is a positive change from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -96.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on UTZ shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America raised shares of Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Utz Brands from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Stephens boosted their price target on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Utz Brands from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.42.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,780,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,113,000 after buying an additional 22,908 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,952,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,946,000 after purchasing an additional 199,472 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,331,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,554,000 after purchasing an additional 175,956 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,212,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,691,000 after purchasing an additional 250,557 shares during the period. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 15.8% during the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 929,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,488,000 after buying an additional 126,948 shares in the last quarter. 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.