Needham & Company LLC Boosts Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Price Target to $22.00

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) had its price target increased by Needham & Company LLC from $20.50 to $22.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a neutral rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised Utz Brands from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $20.42.

Utz Brands Price Performance

Shares of UTZ opened at $19.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.04, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.28. Utz Brands has a 1-year low of $11.17 and a 1-year high of $20.04.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a positive return on equity of 6.16%. The company had revenue of $346.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $346.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. Utz Brands’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Utz Brands will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.059 per share. This is a boost from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is -96.00%.

Insider Activity at Utz Brands

In other Utz Brands news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 32,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.10, for a total transaction of $612,193.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,516,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,168,053.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 66,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.45, for a total transaction of $1,284,225.15. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,315,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,040,228.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 32,052 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.10, for a total value of $612,193.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,516,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,168,053.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 675,208 shares of company stock worth $12,039,150 in the last quarter. 17.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Utz Brands

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gratus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Utz Brands in the third quarter valued at $6,468,000. Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Utz Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,302,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Utz Brands by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 710,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,000 after buying an additional 297,395 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Utz Brands by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,212,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,691,000 after buying an additional 250,557 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 96.5% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 409,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,493,000 after acquiring an additional 200,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.