Mark Schreiber Sells 20,103 Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Stock

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) EVP Mark Schreiber sold 20,103 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.47, for a total value of $391,405.41. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 108,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,105,213.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Utz Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UTZ opened at $18.55 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.97. Utz Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.17 and a twelve month high of $20.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.33.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a positive return on equity of 6.16%. The firm had revenue of $346.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $346.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.059 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. This is a boost from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -96.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UTZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America raised shares of Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Utz Brands from $20.50 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Utz Brands in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Utz Brands from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued 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 $20.42.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 594,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,986,000 after purchasing an additional 191,441 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Utz Brands during the third quarter valued at $698,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Utz Brands by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,952,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,946,000 after acquiring an additional 199,472 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 96.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 409,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,493,000 after acquiring an additional 200,850 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Utz Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $852,000. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.