Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Stake Lessened by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. significantly reduced its holdings in Utz Brands by 97.2%, selling over 1.4 million shares during the first quarter.
• Utz Brands recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.17, which was below the consensus estimate of $0.19, but its revenue increased by 2.9% year-over-year.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend from $0.01 to $0.061 per share, representing a dividend yield of 1.8%.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Free Report) by 97.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,532 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,467,940 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Utz Brands were worth $599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTZ. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Utz Brands in the 4th quarter worth $339,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Utz Brands by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 88,099 shares of the company's stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 6,824 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Utz Brands by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 219,614 shares of the company's stock worth $3,439,000 after buying an additional 16,175 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Utz Brands in the 4th quarter worth $258,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Utz Brands by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 39,879 shares of the company's stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 1,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William Jr. Werzyn bought 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.81 per share, for a total transaction of $94,480.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,275.70. This trade represents a 53.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 16.32% of the company's stock.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

UTZ traded up $0.14 on Monday, hitting $13.78. 949,081 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,206,847. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.17. Utz Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.53 and a twelve month high of $18.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $366.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.55 million. Utz Brands had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 1.27%. Utz Brands's revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UTZ shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. TD Cowen lowered 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 note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Utz Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.29.

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.