Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,400,014 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 116,376 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.99% of Utz Brands worth $21,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UTZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,923,292 shares of the company's stock worth $124,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025,656 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Utz Brands by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,208,402 shares of the company's stock worth $81,564,000 after purchasing an additional 620,196 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 21.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 555,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,831,000 after buying an additional 97,767 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $1,254,000. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 3,117,478 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,820,000 after acquiring an additional 59,429 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on UTZ. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on Utz Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen downgraded Utz Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Utz Brands news, CEO Howard A. Friedman bought 3,525 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.16 per share, with a total value of $49,914.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 265,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,762,722.64. This trade represents a 1.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 496,038 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.40, for a total value of $6,646,909.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders acquired 17,920 shares of company stock valued at $224,156 over the last quarter. 16.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Utz Brands Trading Up 1.0 %

Utz Brands stock traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $12.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,595,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 909,097. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.20. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.53 and a 12-month high of $18.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.68.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16. Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm had revenue of $352.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $345.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th were issued a dividend of $0.011 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Utz Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 75.00%.

Utz Brands Profile

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.