Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Receives $17.69 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.69.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of Utz Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Brown acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.96 per share, with a total value of $59,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 67,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $808,173.08. This trade represents a 7.99% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 cost of $11.81 per share, for a total transaction of $94,480.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 22,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,275.70. This represents a 53.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 16.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Utz Brands during the first quarter worth about $196,000. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 885,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,422,000 after acquiring an additional 30,156 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 152,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,390,000 after acquiring an additional 20,164 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $339,000. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 250.8% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 89,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 63,692 shares during the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Utz Brands Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Utz Brands stock opened at $13.73 on Friday. 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 has a 12-month low of $11.53 and a 12-month high of $18.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.91, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.45.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16. Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The business had revenue of $352.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $345.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. Utz Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Utz Brands will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.061 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 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.