Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.81.

UTZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson upgraded Utz Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho lowered their price target on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen cut shares of Utz Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th.

Utz Brands Price Performance

NYSE:UTZ traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $13.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,368,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 931,927. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 72.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Utz Brands has a 52-week low of $11.53 and a 52-week high of $18.89. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $13.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.32.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.16. Utz Brands had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 1.13%. The business had revenue of $352.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $345.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Utz Brands will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.011 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. Utz Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.00%.

Insider Activity at Utz Brands

In related news, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 496,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.40, for a total transaction of $6,646,909.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William Jr. Werzyn acquired 8,000 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.81 per share, with a total value of $94,480.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 22,970 shares in the company, valued at $271,275.70. This represents a 53.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 16.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newton One Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Utz Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Utz Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Utz Brands by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 7,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Utz Brands by 112.7% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,697 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 4,078 shares during the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.