Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

UTZ has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays dropped 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, April 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.06.

Utz Brands Price Performance

UTZ opened at $7.61 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.15 and a 200-day moving average of $9.74. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 761.26, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.98. Utz Brands has a 1-year low of $7.11 and a 1-year high of $14.67. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.26. The company had revenue of $342.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $346.99 million. Utz Brands had a net margin of 0.06% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Utz Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.771-0.795 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Utz Brands will post 0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.3%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 2,500.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its position in Utz Brands by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 1,688,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,521,000 after purchasing an additional 814,555 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in Utz Brands by 560.6% in the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 112,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 95,733 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Utz Brands by 42.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 327,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 97,271 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in Utz Brands by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 3,131,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,043,000 after purchasing an additional 304,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Utz Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,274,000. Institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

About Utz Brands

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.