Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys Shares of 80,100 Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)

Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 80,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,254,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.06% of Utz Brands at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PARK CIRCLE Co acquired a new position in shares of Utz Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $591,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Utz Brands by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 667,051 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,446,000 after purchasing an additional 23,776 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Utz Brands by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 152,620 shares of the company's stock worth $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 20,164 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 24,055 shares of the company's stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 13,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Utz Brands by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,561,986 shares of the company's stock worth $24,467,000 after purchasing an additional 13,755 shares in the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Utz Brands Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE UTZ traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $11.77. 164,779 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,252,951. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.39, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.20. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.70 and a 52-week high of $19.64. The company's 50-day moving average is $13.54 and its 200-day moving average is $14.83. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.16. The firm had revenue of $352.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $345.44 million. Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were issued a dividend of $0.011 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. Utz Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.00%.

Insider Transactions at Utz Brands

In related news, CEO Howard A. Friedman bought 3,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.16 per share, with a total value of $49,914.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 265,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,762,722.64. This trade represents a 1.34 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 496,038 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.40, for a total transaction of $6,646,909.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 16.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UTZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Utz Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Utz Brands currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.81.

Utz Brands 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.