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

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.22.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UTZ. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Utz Brands Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of UTZ opened at $15.66 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $16.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.42, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.01. Utz Brands has a 52 week low of $14.17 and a 52 week high of $20.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Utz Brands will post 0.74 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, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.061 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. This is a boost from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is presently -126.32%.

Insider Transactions at Utz Brands

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

Institutional Trading of Utz Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UTZ. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new position in Utz Brands in the second quarter valued at $44,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 37,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 2,802 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 3.6% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 99,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,466 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 20.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 24,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 4,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Utz Brands by 11.6% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 40,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 4,182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

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.