GSA Capital Partners LLP Sells 151,594 Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners LLP has reduced its stake in Utz Brands, Inc. by 69%, selling 151,594 shares and holding 67,968 shares valued at $957,000 after the sell-off.
• Utz Brands recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.061 per share, reflecting an increase from the previous amount, which represents an annual yield of 1.9%.
• Despite a 2.9% year-over-year revenue increase, the company reported earnings per share of $0.17, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19.

GSA Capital Partners LLP trimmed its stake in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Free Report) by 69.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,968 shares of the company's stock after selling 151,594 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP's holdings in Utz Brands were worth $957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Utz Brands by 9.7% during the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 15,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 39,879 shares of the company's stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Utz Brands by 11.5% in the first quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,632 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Finally, Outfitter Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 3.8% during the first quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC now owns 54,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares in the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William Jr. Werzyn bought 8,000 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.81 per share, with a total value of $94,480.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 22,970 shares in the company, valued at $271,275.70. This trade represents a 53.44% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 16.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

NYSE UTZ traded down $0.25 on Tuesday, hitting $13.50. 557,197 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,218,427. The company has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of 64.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.17. The business's fifty day moving average is $13.47 and its 200 day moving average is $13.40. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.53 and a 52 week high of $18.89. 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 (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $366.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.55 million. Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.27% and a return on equity of 7.81%. Utz Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.061 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Utz Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. Utz Brands's payout ratio is presently 114.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UTZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. DA Davidson raised Utz Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Utz Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Utz Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.29.

Utz Brands Company 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.