Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.42.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UTZ. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Utz Brands from $20.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 66,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.45, for a total value of $1,284,225.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,315,693 shares in the company, valued at $45,040,228.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Series U. Of Um Partners, Llc sold 397,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.76, for a total value of $7,464,322.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 66,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.45, for a total transaction of $1,284,225.15. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,315,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,040,228.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 497,178 shares of company stock valued at $9,387,927 in the last quarter. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Utz Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 5.4% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 16,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Utz Brands by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust lifted its position in Utz Brands by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 13,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 1,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its stake in Utz Brands by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 20,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 1,664 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Utz Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UTZ opened at $15.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of -61.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.74. Utz Brands has a 1-year low of $11.17 and a 1-year high of $20.04.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a positive return on equity of 6.16%. The business had revenue of $346.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $346.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Utz Brands will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a $0.059 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -96.00%.

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.