Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,655 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,765 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Utz Brands were worth $254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UTZ. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Utz Brands by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 594,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,986,000 after buying an additional 191,441 shares during the period. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $698,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,952,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,946,000 after purchasing an additional 199,472 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Utz Brands by 96.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 409,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 200,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $852,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total value of $1,641,622.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,556,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,299,541.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Utz Brands news, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total value of $1,641,622.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,556,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,299,541.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Series U. Of Um Partners, Llc sold 446,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.40, for a total transaction of $7,764,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 397,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,923,199. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 609,181 shares of company stock worth $10,754,925 in the last ninety days. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Utz Brands Stock Up 1.4 %

UTZ stock opened at $18.27 on Wednesday. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.17 and a 52 week high of $19.21. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.01). Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 6.08% and a negative net margin of 1.73%. The business had revenue of $352.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.059 dividend. This is an increase from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is presently -77.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UTZ has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America raised shares of Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target 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. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.63.

About Utz Brands

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.