Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.20.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UTZ. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Utz Brands stock opened at $13.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $15.77 and its 200 day moving average is $16.44. 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 has a twelve month low of $13.20 and a twelve month high of $20.04.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 7.25%. The business had revenue of $365.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. Utz Brands’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Utz Brands will post 0.74 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.061 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is presently -126.32%.

Insider Transactions at Utz Brands

In other news, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 2,815,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total transaction of $48,678,335.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 496,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,576,497.02. This represents a 85.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Cary Devore sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.32, for a total value of $519,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 451,117 shares in the company, valued at $7,813,346.44. This trade represents a 6.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UTZ. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $80,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands in the third quarter valued at $142,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Utz Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $169,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Utz Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $185,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Utz Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $187,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

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.