Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Short Interest Up 24.7% in May

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,710,000 shares, an increase of 24.7% from the May 15th total of 4,580,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,260,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 8.1% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UTZ. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Utz Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Utz Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Brown purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.96 per share, with a total value of $59,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 67,573 shares in the company, valued at $808,173.08. This represents a 7.99% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William Jr. Werzyn purchased 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.81 per share, with a total value of $94,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $271,275.70. The trade was a 53.44% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 16.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 9.7% in the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 15,967 shares of the company's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 1,411 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,280 shares of the company's stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Utz Brands by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 95,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,757 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Utz Brands by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 39,879 shares of the company's stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,632 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Utz Brands Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE UTZ traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $13.15. 954,869 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 956,975. Utz Brands has a 1-year low of $11.53 and a 1-year high of $18.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.18.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16. The business had revenue of $352.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $345.44 million. Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Utz Brands will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.061 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This is a boost from Utz Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Utz Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.00%.

Utz Brands Company 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.