Insider Selling: Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Director Sells 3,160 Shares of Stock

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Director Christina Choi sold 3,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.98, for a total transaction of $56,816.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 29,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $534,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Utz Brands Stock Up 0.5 %

UTZ stock opened at $18.10 on Friday. Utz Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $11.17 and a one year high of $20.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -72.40, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $346.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $346.99 million. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a positive return on equity of 6.16%. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.059 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is an increase from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -96.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UTZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Utz Brands from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Bank of America raised Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three equities research 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 $20.42.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 16,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 848 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 4.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 57,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Utz Brands by 2.2% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 874,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,119,000 after acquiring an additional 18,786 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 165,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,049,000 after purchasing an additional 21,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Utz Brands by 64.5% in the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 96,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after buying an additional 38,047 shares during the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.