Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Receives $14.38 Average Target Price from Analysts

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.3750.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho set a $16.00 price objective on Utz Brands in a report on Monday, November 3rd. DA Davidson set a $15.00 price target on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Utz Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Series R. Of Um Partners, Llc bought 12,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.60 per share, with a total value of $119,232.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 628,594 shares in the company, valued at $6,034,502.40. This trade represents a 2.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dylan Lissette purchased 7,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.99 per share, for a total transaction of $70,029.90. Following the transaction, the director owned 160,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,605,333.06. This trade represents a 4.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders bought 92,313 shares of company stock valued at $947,055. Insiders own 16.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its position in Utz Brands by 194.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 2,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 118.5% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 76.1% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 16.1% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Utz Brands Price Performance

Shares of UTZ opened at $10.56 on Thursday. Utz Brands has a twelve month low of $9.15 and a twelve month high of $14.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 150.86, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Utz Brands had a net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The firm had revenue of $377.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Utz Brands will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.063 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 357.14%.

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.