Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Director Sells 66,027 Shares

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 66,027 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.45, for a total transaction of $1,284,225.15. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,315,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,040,228.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Utz Brands Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE UTZ opened at $18.98 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.28. Utz Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $11.17 and a one year high of $20.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.92, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.97.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $346.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $346.99 million. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a positive return on equity of 6.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.059 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is a boost from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -96.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on UTZ. Truist Financial upped their target price on Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Bank of America raised Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Barclays raised their price target on Utz Brands from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Utz Brands from $20.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Utz Brands from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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 have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 1.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 187,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,466,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $239,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $196,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,331,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,554,000 after purchasing an additional 175,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $359,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

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.