Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Sets New 12-Month High at $19.70

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $19.70 and last traded at $19.19, with a volume of 439213 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Utz Brands from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on Utz Brands in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.63.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.93, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.97.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.01). Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 1.73% and a positive return on equity of 6.08%. The business had revenue of $352.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.059 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. This is a positive change from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -77.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Utz Brands

In other Utz Brands news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 32,052 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.10, for a total value of $612,193.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,516,652 shares in the company, valued at $67,168,053.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Utz Brands news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 13,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.03, for a total value of $255,877.38. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,548,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,531,837.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 32,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.10, for a total value of $612,193.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,516,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,168,053.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 609,181 shares of company stock valued at $10,754,925. 17.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Utz Brands by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,780,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,113,000 after purchasing an additional 22,908 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,952,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,946,000 after purchasing an additional 199,472 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,331,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,554,000 after acquiring an additional 175,956 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,212,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,691,000 after acquiring an additional 250,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 15.8% in the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 929,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,488,000 after purchasing an additional 126,948 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.