Emerald Advisers LLC Has $7.79 Million Holdings in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)

Emerald Advisers LLC lessened its stake in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) by 41.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 440,096 shares of the company’s stock after selling 312,861 shares during the quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC’s holdings in Utz Brands were worth $7,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in Utz Brands in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Utz Brands in the second quarter valued at about $80,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands during the second quarter worth about $103,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands during the third quarter worth about $142,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Utz Brands during the second quarter worth about $185,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Utz Brands

In related news, Director Bruce John Lindeman bought 4,000 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.11 per share, for a total transaction of $64,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,352.80. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Utz Brands Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:UTZ traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $17.35. 1,094,157 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 759,776. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -91.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.69. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $17.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.24. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.67 and a 12 month high of $20.04.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a return on equity of 6.79% and a net margin of 0.29%. The business had revenue of $365.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.011 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is presently -121.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Utz Brands from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Utz Brands from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.10.

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.