Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Sets New 52-Week High at $19.70

Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $19.70 and last traded at $19.19, with a volume of 439213 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on UTZ shares. DA Davidson started coverage on Utz Brands in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Utz Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.63.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of -63.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.97.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $352.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $354.63 million. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 6.08% and a negative net margin of 1.73%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.059 dividend. This is a boost from Utz Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Utz Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -77.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total value of $1,641,622.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,556,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,299,541.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 32,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.10, for a total value of $612,193.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,516,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,168,053.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total transaction of $1,641,622.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,556,154 shares in the company, valued at $63,299,541.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 609,181 shares of company stock worth $10,754,925 in the last quarter. 17.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pathstone Family Office LLC increased its stake in Utz Brands by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 300,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,035,000 after buying an additional 888 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,924 shares of the company's stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 13,536 shares of the company's stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its position in Utz Brands by 6.7% in the third quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 18,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in Utz Brands by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 151,500 shares of the company's stock worth $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.