Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) by 40.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,619 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,564 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Utz Brands were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Utz Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 104.9% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 2,397 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 17.3% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 5,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 877 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in shares of Utz Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Utz Brands

In other news, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total value of $1,641,622.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,556,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,299,541.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 3,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.13, for a total value of $72,407.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,399,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,031,861.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total transaction of $1,641,622.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,556,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,299,541.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 609,181 shares of company stock valued at $10,754,925. Insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Utz Brands Price Performance

UTZ opened at $17.42 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.73. The firm has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.19, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.97. Utz Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.17 and a twelve month high of $19.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $352.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.63 million. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 1.73% and a positive return on equity of 6.08%. Utz Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.059 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. This is an increase from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is presently -77.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on UTZ. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.63.

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.