Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 231,600 Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its position in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Free Report) by 67.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 109,620 shares of the company's stock after selling 231,600 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.08% of Utz Brands worth $1,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 9.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,758,961 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,256,000 after buying an additional 152,868 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 3.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,548,231 shares of the company's stock worth $27,409,000 after purchasing an additional 47,320 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Utz Brands by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 555,477 shares of the company's stock worth $9,831,000 after buying an additional 97,767 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,510,472 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,654,000 after acquiring an additional 36,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 885,316 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,422,000 after acquiring an additional 30,156 shares in the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Utz Brands

In related news, CEO Howard A. Friedman purchased 3,525 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.16 per share, with a total value of $49,914.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 265,729 shares in the company, valued at $3,762,722.64. The trade was a 1.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 496,038 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.40, for a total transaction of $6,646,909.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 16.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on UTZ shares. TD Cowen cut Utz Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho dropped their price target on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Utz Brands in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.56.

Utz Brands Price Performance

Shares of UTZ stock remained flat at $13.58 on Wednesday. The company had a trading volume of 126,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 865,666. The company has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.44, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $13.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.08. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.15 and a twelve month high of $20.04.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.03. Utz Brands had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 1.13%. The business had revenue of $341.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.011 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Utz Brands's dividend payout ratio is 133.33%.

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.