Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Research Coverage Started at BTIG Research

BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock.

UTZ has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Research cut Utz Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Utz Brands in a report on Friday, March 27th. Mizuho set a $14.00 price objective on Utz Brands in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America dropped their target price on Utz Brands from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.39.

Utz Brands Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of UTZ opened at $7.76 on Monday. Utz Brands has a 52 week low of $7.11 and a 52 week high of $14.67. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 776.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.26. Utz Brands had a net margin of 0.06% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $342.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $346.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Utz Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.771-0.795 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Utz Brands will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be given a $0.063 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is presently 2,500.00%.

Institutional Trading of Utz Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in Utz Brands by 105.2% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,414,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,066,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,180 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Utz Brands by 249.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,658,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,571 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Utz Brands by 42.3% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,946,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,979,000 after purchasing an additional 875,847 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 1,688,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,521,000 after purchasing an additional 814,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 261.5% in the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 994,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,322,000 after purchasing an additional 719,361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Utz Brands Company Profile

Utz Brands, Inc is a leading U.S. manufacturer and distributor of salty snack foods, offering a wide range of products including potato chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, popcorn and tortilla chips. Headquartered in Hanover, Pennsylvania, the company markets its snacks under several well-known brands and serves grocery, mass merchandise, club, convenience and online retailers throughout the United States.

Founded in 1921 by Bill and Salie Utz as a small country store operation, the business expanded gradually through direct delivery to local customers and sales to regional grocers.