Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Short Interest Update

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,350,000 shares, anincreaseof529,066.7% from the June 30th total of 1,200 shares. Currently,9.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days. Currently,9.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Utz Brands

In related news, Director William Jr. Werzyn acquired 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.81 per share, for a total transaction of $94,480.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 22,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $271,275.70. This trade represents a 53.44% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Timothy Brown bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.96 per share, for a total transaction of $59,800.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 67,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $808,173.08. The trade was a 7.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 16.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Utz Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 31.8% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,004,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,159,000 after acquiring an additional 483,906 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 280.1% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 38,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 28,732 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Utz Brands by 2.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 873,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,957,000 after acquiring an additional 22,860 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Utz Brands by 23.7% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 7,041 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in Utz Brands by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 155,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 15,943 shares in the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UTZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen cut shares of Utz Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. DA Davidson raised shares of Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Utz Brands from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Utz Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.88.

Utz Brands Trading Up 4.9%

NYSE UTZ opened at $13.67 on Friday. Utz Brands has a 12-month low of $11.53 and a 12-month high of $18.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.17.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.27% and a return on equity of 7.80%. The firm had revenue of $366.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Utz Brands’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Utz Brands will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.061 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.00%.

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.