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

Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.20.

Several research analysts have weighed in on UTZ shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on Utz Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Utz Brands Stock Up 2.5 %

NYSE:UTZ opened at $14.26 on Friday. Utz Brands has a 12-month low of $13.36 and a 12-month high of $20.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -75.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.53.

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

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.061 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is -126.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Cary Devore sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.32, for a total transaction of $519,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 451,117 shares in the company, valued at $7,813,346.44. The trade was a 6.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 2,815,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $80,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $142,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $169,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $185,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $187,000. Institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

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.