Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Share Price Crosses Below Fifty Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Utz Brands shares fell below their 50-day moving average, trading as low as $14.24 versus the $14.26 average, with the last trade at $14.25 on volume of about 2.73 million shares.
• Analyst sentiment weakened, with several firms downgrading the stock; the consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $13.39.
• Utz slightly exceeded quarterly EPS expectations at $0.19 but missed revenue estimates, while maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.063 per share, equivalent to an approximately 1.8% yield.

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) shares crossed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $14.26 and traded as low as $14.24. Utz Brands shares last traded at $14.25, with a volume of 2,727,897 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered Utz Brands from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $14.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. DA Davidson downgraded Utz Brands from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $14.25 in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Utz Brands from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Piper Sandler downgraded Utz Brands from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $14.25 in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Utz Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.39.

Utz Brands Stock Down 0.2%

The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of -43.18 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $14.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.41.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $371.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.18 million. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 8.97% and a negative net margin of 2.00%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were given a dividend of $0.0630 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Utz Brands's payout ratio is -75.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UTZ. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 17.8% in the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 4,063,561 shares of the company's stock worth $32,183,000 after buying an additional 613,699 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Utz Brands by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 796,586 shares of the company's stock worth $6,309,000 after acquiring an additional 167,958 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 195.5% in the first quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 849,461 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,728,000 after purchasing an additional 561,961 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Utz Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $1,068,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Utz Brands by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 937,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,421,000 after buying an additional 356,428 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.97% of the company's stock.

Utz Brands Company Profile

Utz Brands, Inc is a U.S.-based snack food company that manufactures, markets and distributes a broad portfolio of branded salty snacks. Its products include potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, pork rinds, popcorn and other snack items sold through grocery stores, mass merchants, club stores, convenience stores and e-commerce channels.

The company's brand portfolio includes Utz, Zapp's, Boulder Canyon, On the Border, Golden Flake, Good Health and Hawaiian, among others.

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