Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $14.17 and last traded at $14.1450, with a volume of 5299595 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $14.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UTZ has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $14.25 price objective (up from $10.00) on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $14.25 target price (down from $15.00) on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stephens set a $14.25 price target on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.39.

Utz Brands Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -141.24 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.62.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $361.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.76 million. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 0.58% and a positive return on equity of 8.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. Utz Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.771-0.795 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were paid a $0.063 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is -250.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,679,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,718,000 after acquiring an additional 252,876 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 7.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,085,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,370,000 after purchasing an additional 413,493 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 4,063,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,183,000 after buying an additional 613,699 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Utz Brands by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,946,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,979,000 after buying an additional 875,847 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.