Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts covering Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) have a consensus rating of Hold, with four buy ratings, three holds, and one sell. The average 12-month price target is about $12.06.
• The stock was trading down 2.5% at $7.53, near its 1-year low of $7.11 and well below its 1-year high of $14.67. Utz also reported mixed quarterly results, beating EPS estimates by a penny but missing slightly on revenue.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 95.97% of the company. Vanguard, Ameriprise, Copeland Capital, Balyasny, and Alyeska all increased their positions recently.

Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.0556.

UTZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho set a $14.00 target price on Utz Brands in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $15.00 target price on Utz Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Utz Brands from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Utz Brands from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th.

Institutional Trading of Utz Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,679,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,718,000 after buying an additional 252,876 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,085,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,370,000 after buying an additional 413,493 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 4,063,561 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,183,000 after buying an additional 613,699 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,946,512 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,979,000 after buying an additional 875,847 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 105.2% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,414,791 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,066,000 after buying an additional 1,238,180 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.97% of the company's stock.

Utz Brands Trading Down 2.5%

UTZ stock opened at $7.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.24, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.87. Utz Brands has a 1-year low of $7.11 and a 1-year high of $14.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $361.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.77 million. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 8.61% and a negative net margin of 0.58%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. Utz Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.771-0.795 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Utz Brands will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th were given a dividend of $0.063 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 13th. Utz Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently -250.00%.

Utz Brands Company Profile

Utz Brands, Inc is a leading U.S. manufacturer and distributor of salty snack foods, offering a wide range of products including potato chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, popcorn and tortilla chips. Headquartered in Hanover, Pennsylvania, the company markets its snacks under several well-known brands and serves grocery, mass merchandise, club, convenience and online retailers throughout the United States.

Founded in 1921 by Bill and Salie Utz as a small country store operation, the business expanded gradually through direct delivery to local customers and sales to regional grocers.

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