Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Major Shareholder Sells $7,464,322.60 in Stock

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) major shareholder Series U. Of Um Partners, Llc sold 397,885 shares of the company’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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Utz Brands Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:UTZ traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $18.98. 754,793 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 822,483. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Utz Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.17 and a fifty-two week high of $20.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.92, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.97.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $346.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. Utz Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.059 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. This is an increase from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -96.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UTZ. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Utz Brands during the third quarter worth $268,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Utz Brands by 27.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 17,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 3,833 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 3.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 51,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 0.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 389,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,230,000 after acquiring an additional 3,315 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 92.2% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 10,278 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on UTZ. DA Davidson began coverage on Utz Brands in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Utz Brands from $20.50 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Utz Brands from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Utz Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.42.

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.