Jennison Associates LLC Reduces Holdings in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) by 29.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,155,625 shares of the company’s stock after selling 488,098 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Utz Brands were worth $18,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Pathstone Family Office LLC grew its stake in Utz Brands by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 300,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,035,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the period. Outfitter Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC now owns 49,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $661,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 13,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 1,083 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 18,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 151,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on UTZ shares. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Utz Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Utz Brands news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 3,785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.13, for a total value of $72,407.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,399,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,031,861.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Utz Brands news, major shareholder Series U. Of Um Partners, Llc sold 446,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.40, for a total value of $7,764,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 397,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,923,199. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 3,785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.13, for a total transaction of $72,407.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,399,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,031,861.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 609,181 shares of company stock worth $10,754,925. Insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

Shares of UTZ stock opened at $18.74 on Friday. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.17 and a 12 month high of $19.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -60.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.89.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $352.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.63 million. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 6.08% and a negative net margin of 1.73%. Utz Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.059 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. This is an increase from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is presently -77.42%.

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.