Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Shares Sold by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP decreased its stake in shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Free Report) by 69.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 307,332 shares of the company's stock after selling 682,948 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.22% of Utz Brands worth $4,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UTZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,923,292 shares of the company's stock worth $124,079,000 after buying an additional 1,025,656 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Utz Brands by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 3,117,478 shares of the company's stock worth $48,820,000 after acquiring an additional 59,429 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,561,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,467,000 after purchasing an additional 13,755 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,510,472 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,654,000 after purchasing an additional 36,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 885,316 shares of the company's stock worth $13,422,000 after purchasing an additional 30,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.97% of the company's stock.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

Shares of UTZ stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $13.27. The company had a trading volume of 1,198,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 875,917. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.15 and a 52-week high of $20.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $13.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.94. The stock has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.72, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.10.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $341.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $349.93 million. Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 7.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were given a dividend of $0.011 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. Utz Brands's payout ratio is 133.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Utz Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson raised shares of Utz Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Utz Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.56.

Insider Transactions at Utz Brands

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

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.