Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Short Interest Update

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,430,000 shares, a decline of 18.6% from the February 28th total of 5,440,000 shares. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Utz Brands

In other news, CEO Howard A. Friedman bought 3,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.16 per share, for a total transaction of $49,914.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 265,729 shares in the company, valued at $3,762,722.64. This represents a 1.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 496,038 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.40, for a total value of $6,646,909.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 16.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Utz Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 112.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $169,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Utz Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $183,000. Institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Utz Brands Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE UTZ opened at $14.08 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Utz Brands has a 12-month low of $12.71 and a 12-month high of $20.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $13.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $341.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $349.93 million. Utz Brands had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 1.13%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Utz Brands will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a $0.011 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UTZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho cut 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on Utz Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on Utz Brands from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.25.

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.