Comerica Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)

Comerica Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,437 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,036 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Utz Brands were worth $226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Newton One Investments LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Utz Brands by 112.7% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 4,078 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Utz Brands by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 12,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Utz Brands Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:UTZ opened at $12.96 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.02, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.20. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.53 and a 12-month high of $18.89.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16. Utz Brands had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 1.13%. The company had revenue of $352.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $345.44 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. Utz Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th were issued a dividend of $0.011 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on UTZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson raised Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group cut their target price on Utz Brands from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho cut their target price on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Utz Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.81.

Insider Activity at Utz Brands

In related news, CEO Howard A. Friedman acquired 3,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.16 per share, for a total transaction of $49,914.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 265,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,762,722.64. This represents a 1.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William Jr. Werzyn acquired 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.81 per share, with a total value of $94,480.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,275.70. This trade represents a 53.44% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 17,920 shares of company stock worth $224,156 in the last three months. 16.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Utz Brands 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.