Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Stock Price Breaks Below 50-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)’s share price crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $14.26 and traded as low as $14.24. Utz Brands shares last traded at $14.25, with a volume of 2,727,897 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UTZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Utz Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $14.25 in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Utz Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $14.25 in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Utz Brands from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Stephens set a $14.25 price target on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Utz Brands from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Utz Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.39.

Utz Brands Trading Down 0.2%

The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.18 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.41.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 2.00% and a positive return on equity of 8.97%. The business had revenue of $371.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $374.18 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.80 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a $0.0630 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is currently -75.76%.

Institutional Trading of Utz Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTZ. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 3,524.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Utz Brands by 8.2% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 30,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Utz Brands by 318.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 2,879 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Utz Brands by 23.6% in the first quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in Utz Brands by 22.2% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 26,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 4,759 shares in the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Utz Brands Company Profile

Utz Brands, Inc is a U.S.-based snack food company that manufactures, markets and distributes a broad portfolio of branded salty snacks. Its products include potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, pork rinds, popcorn and other snack items sold through grocery stores, mass merchants, club stores, convenience stores and e-commerce channels.

The company’s brand portfolio includes Utz, Zapp’s, Boulder Canyon, On the Border, Golden Flake, Good Health and Hawaiian, among others.