Utz Brands’ (UTZ) “Sell (D+)” Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reiterated their sell (d+) rating on shares of Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) in a research note released on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Utz Brands from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Utz Brands from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Utz Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.07.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

NYSE UTZ opened at $12.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 59.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Utz Brands has a 1-year low of $11.53 and a 1-year high of $18.29.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $366.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.55 million. Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.27% and a return on equity of 7.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. Utz Brands has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.850 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Utz Brands will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.061 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Christina Choi sold 5,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.63, for a total transaction of $77,731.89. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,467.30. This trade represents a 14.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 16.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Utz Brands during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Utz Brands by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Utz Brands by 37.6% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Utz Brands by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.