Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 2.00% and a positive return on equity of 8.92%. The company had revenue of $371.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Utz Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UTZ traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $14.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 261,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,527,728. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.72. Utz Brands has a 52-week low of $6.78 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.89 and a beta of 0.74.

Utz Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UTZ. Zacks Research raised Utz Brands from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $15.00 target price on Utz Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. BTIG Research downgraded Utz Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $14.25 price target (down from $15.00) on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Utz Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $14.25 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Utz Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.39.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 413,493 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $36,979,000 after acquiring an additional 875,847 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 105.2% during the 4th 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Utz Brands by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,022,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,576,000 after acquiring an additional 9,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Utz Brands by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,022,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,480,000 after acquiring an additional 585,952 shares during 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.