Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,710,000 shares, an increase of 24.7% from the May 15th total of 4,580,000 shares. Approximately 8.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,260,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William Jr. Werzyn acquired 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.81 per share, for a total transaction of $94,480.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,275.70. This trade represents a 53.44% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Brown acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.96 per share, for a total transaction of $59,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 67,573 shares in the company, valued at $808,173.08. This represents a 7.99% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 16.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Utz Brands during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Utz Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Utz Brands by 112.7% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 4,078 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Utz Brands by 44.8% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Utz Brands during the first quarter worth approximately $144,000. 95.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UTZ. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Utz Brands from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen lowered Utz Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. DA Davidson upgraded Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.81.

Utz Brands Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of UTZ opened at $13.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.18. Utz Brands has a 12-month low of $11.53 and a 12-month high of $18.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.16. The firm had revenue of $352.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $345.44 million. Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 8.05%. Utz Brands’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Utz Brands will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.061 dividend. This is an increase from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is currently 75.00%.

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.