Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Reaches New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $17.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Utz Brands traded as low as $13.46 and last traded at $13.57, with a volume of 84318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.49.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on UTZ. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Utz Brands from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.80.

Insider Activity at Utz Brands

In related news, EVP Cary Devore sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.32, for a total value of $519,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 451,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,813,346.44. This trade represents a 6.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 2,815,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total value of $48,678,335.16. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 496,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,576,497.02. This trade represents a 85.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 9.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,758,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,256,000 after purchasing an additional 152,868 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Utz Brands by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,548,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,409,000 after acquiring an additional 47,320 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,474,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,091,000 after purchasing an additional 235,622 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 2.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 696,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,582,000 after purchasing an additional 14,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Utz Brands by 5.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,110,000 after buying an additional 28,484 shares during the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Utz Brands Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.26, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.03.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 7.25%. The firm had revenue of $365.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. Utz Brands’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.061 dividend. This is a boost from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -126.32%.

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.