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

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,330,000 shares, an increase of 20.3% from the March 15th total of 4,430,000 shares. Approximately 7.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Utz Brands Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:UTZ opened at $13.52 on Monday. Utz Brands has a 12-month low of $12.00 and a 12-month high of $20.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of 76.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.11.

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

Utz Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.011 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 496,038 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Howard A. Friedman bought 3,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.16 per share, for a total transaction of $49,914.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 265,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,762,722.64. This trade represents a 1.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 16.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Utz Brands by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,758,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,256,000 after buying an additional 152,868 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Utz Brands by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 555,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,831,000 after purchasing an additional 97,767 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Utz Brands by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,548,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,409,000 after purchasing an additional 47,320 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 56,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 11,438 shares during the period. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $169,000. 95.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.