Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.6429.

UTZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Mizuho set a $16.00 target price on Utz Brands in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st.

Utz Brands Price Performance

NYSE UTZ opened at $10.52 on Friday. Utz Brands has a 1 year low of $9.77 and a 1 year high of $17.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $11.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 150.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. The business had revenue of $377.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.25 million. Utz Brands had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 0.39%.Utz Brands’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. Utz Brands has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.824-0.847 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Utz Brands will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.061 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 342.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christina Choi sold 5,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.63, for a total value of $77,731.89. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,467.30. This represents a 14.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Howard A. Friedman acquired 7,200 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.58 per share, for a total transaction of $76,176.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 66,298 shares in the company, valued at $701,432.84. The trade was a 12.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 63,293 shares of company stock worth $663,204. Company insiders own 16.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 73,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $897,000 after buying an additional 8,531 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Utz Brands by 37.7% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 9,389 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 676,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,223,000 after purchasing an additional 38,569 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 275,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,342,000 after purchasing an additional 100,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 23,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 2,778 shares during the last quarter. 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.