138,670 Shares in Utz Brands, Inc. $UTZ Bought by Ancora Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Ancora Advisors LLC acquired 138,670 shares of Utz Brands in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.07 million and representing about 0.10% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 95.97% of UTZ.
• Analyst sentiment has weakened, with Jefferies, Barclays and BTIG downgrading the stock to “hold” or “equal weight.” The consensus rating is Hold, with a price target of $13.39.
• Utz reported quarterly earnings of $0.19 per share, slightly beating estimates, while revenue rose 1.4% year over year to $371.8 million. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.063 per share, equivalent to a 1.8% yield.

Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 138,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,068,000. Ancora Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Utz Brands at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UTZ. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Utz Brands by 431.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Utz Brands by 118.5% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,356 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Utz Brands by 363.5% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 6,086 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 4,773 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 76.1% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,756 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on UTZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Utz Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $14.25 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays downgraded Utz Brands from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $14.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. BTIG Research cut Utz Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Utz Brands from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.39.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

Shares of UTZ opened at $14.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.02 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Utz Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $6.78 and a one year high of $14.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $11.85 and a 200 day moving average of $9.21.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 8.97% and a negative net margin of 2.00%.The company had revenue of $371.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. Utz Brands's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd were given a dividend of $0.063 per share. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 22nd. Utz Brands's payout ratio is -75.76%.

About Utz Brands

Utz Brands, Inc is a leading U.S. manufacturer and distributor of salty snack foods, offering a wide range of products including potato chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, popcorn and tortilla chips. Headquartered in Hanover, Pennsylvania, the company markets its snacks under several well-known brands and serves grocery, mass merchandise, club, convenience and online retailers throughout the United States.

Founded in 1921 by Bill and Salie Utz as a small country store operation, the business expanded gradually through direct delivery to local customers and sales to regional grocers.

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