Advisors Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Utz Brands, Inc. $UTZ

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Utz Brands, Inc. by 48.2% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 69,796 shares to reach a total of 214,686 shares worth approximately $3 million.
• Utz Brands reported a decrease in EPS to $0.17 for the last quarter, missing estimates, but the company's revenue rose by 2.9% year-over-year, reaching $366.7 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.061, representing an annualized yield of 1.9%, with a payout ratio of 114.29%.

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Free Report) by 48.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 214,686 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 69,796 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned 0.15% of Utz Brands worth $3,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UTZ. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,671,757 shares of the company's stock worth $79,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560,884 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,697,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 221.7% during the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 914,325 shares of the company's stock worth $12,874,000 after acquiring an additional 630,149 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,022,709 shares of the company's stock worth $28,480,000 after acquiring an additional 585,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,439,869 shares of the company's stock worth $104,753,000 after acquiring an additional 501,374 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.97% of the company's stock.

Utz Brands Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Utz Brands stock opened at $12.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.53 and a 1 year high of $18.89. The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.32.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). Utz Brands had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 1.27%.The company had revenue of $366.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Utz Brands has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.850 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.061 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Utz Brands's payout ratio is 114.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UTZ. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Utz Brands from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on Utz Brands from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Utz Brands currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Utz Brands news, Director Christina Choi sold 5,703 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.63, for a total value of $77,731.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,467.30. The trade was a 14.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 16.32% of the company's stock.

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.

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