Copeland Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)

Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,952,337 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 199,472 shares during the quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.10% of Utz Brands worth $47,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UTZ. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new position in Utz Brands during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Utz Brands during the 1st quarter worth $50,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Utz Brands by 104.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,683 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in Utz Brands by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 5,950 shares of the company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Utz Brands by 5,176.0% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,914 shares of the company's stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 7,764 shares during the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Series U. Of Um Partners, Llc sold 446,250 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.40, for a total transaction of $7,764,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 397,885 shares in the company, valued at $6,923,199. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,556,154 shares in the company, valued at $63,299,541.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Series U. Of Um Partners, Llc sold 446,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.40, for a total transaction of $7,764,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 397,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,923,199. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 609,181 shares of company stock worth $10,754,925. Insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on UTZ. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.38.

Utz Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UTZ traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.44. The company had a trading volume of 551,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 795,235. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Utz Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.17 and a twelve month high of $19.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.96.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.01). Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 1.73% and a positive return on equity of 6.08%. The company had revenue of $352.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.059 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from Utz Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Utz Brands's payout ratio is presently -74.19%.

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.