Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Director Purchases $94,480.00 in Stock

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Director William Jr. Werzyn purchased 8,000 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.81 per share, with a total value of $94,480.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,970 shares in the company, valued at $271,275.70. This trade represents a 53.44 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Utz Brands Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of UTZ opened at $12.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.72. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.20. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.53 and a 1-year high of $18.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16. Utz Brands had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 1.13%. The company had revenue of $352.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $345.44 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. Utz Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.011 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on UTZ shares. TD Cowen cut shares of Utz Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Utz Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.81.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Utz Brands by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,923,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025,656 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,697,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Utz Brands by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,110,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,376,000 after buying an additional 698,589 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,208,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,564,000 after acquiring an additional 620,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 157.9% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 612,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,591,000 after acquiring an additional 375,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Utz Brands Company Profile

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.