Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $17.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Utz Brands traded as low as $13.46 and last traded at $13.57, with a volume of 84318 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $14.49.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on UTZ. Mizuho dropped their target price on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Utz Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.80.

Insider Activity at Utz Brands

In other Utz Brands news, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 2,815,404 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total transaction of $48,678,335.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 496,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,576,497.02. The trade was a 85.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Cary Devore sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.32, for a total transaction of $519,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 451,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,813,346.44. This trade represents a 6.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTZ. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 8.2% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 37,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 2,802 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 99,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,466 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 24,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 4,176 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Utz Brands by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 40,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 4,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Utz Brands by 1.0% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 441,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 4,550 shares during the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Utz Brands Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $16.51 and a 200-day moving average of $16.66.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $365.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.98 million. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 7.25% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.061 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -126.32%.

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.