Weiss Ratings Reiterates "Sell (D+)" Rating for Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reiterated a "Sell (D+)" rating for Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ), signaling a negative outlook for the company’s stock performance.
• Utz Brands' stock currently trades at $12.40, which is significantly below its 12-month high of $18.29, reflecting investor concerns.
• Despite a 2.9% year-over-year revenue increase to $366.70 million, the company missed quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.17 EPS against a consensus of $0.19 EPS.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (d+)" rating reissued by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Utz Brands from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.07.

Utz Brands Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE UTZ traded up $0.04 on Friday, hitting $12.40. 243,168 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,095,301. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 59.02, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.72 and a 200-day moving average of $13.03. Utz Brands has a 12 month low of $11.53 and a 12 month high of $18.29.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $366.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.55 million. Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.27% and a return on equity of 7.81%. Utz Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. Utz Brands has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.850 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Utz Brands will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Utz Brands news, Director Christina Choi sold 5,703 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.63, for a total transaction of $77,731.89. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,467.30. This trade represents a 14.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 16.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTZ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Utz Brands by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,439,869 shares of the company's stock worth $104,753,000 after purchasing an additional 501,374 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 7.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,085,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,370,000 after acquiring an additional 413,493 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 10.8% in the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 3,131,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,043,000 after acquiring an additional 304,163 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 42.3% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,946,512 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,979,000 after acquiring an additional 875,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Utz Brands by 40.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,022,709 shares of the company's stock worth $28,480,000 after acquiring an additional 585,952 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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