Short Interest in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Declines By 26.1%

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,440,000 shares, a decrease of 26.1% from the February 13th total of 7,360,000 shares. Currently, 7.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Utz Brands from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.25.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

NYSE UTZ traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $13.47. The company had a trading volume of 696,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 777,523. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. Utz Brands has a fifty-two week low of $12.71 and a fifty-two week high of $20.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.83.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $341.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $349.93 million. Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 7.92%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Utz Brands will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Utz Brands

In related news, CEO Howard A. Friedman purchased 3,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.16 per share, for a total transaction of $49,914.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 265,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,762,722.64. This represents a 1.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 496,038 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.40, for a total transaction of $6,646,909.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UTZ. Newton One Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Utz Brands by 112.7% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 4,078 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $169,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Utz Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $183,000. Institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

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.