Brokerages Set Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) PT at $17.81

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.81.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on UTZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson raised shares of Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Utz Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Utz Brands

In related news, Director Timothy Brown purchased 5,000 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.96 per share, for a total transaction of $59,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 67,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $808,173.08. This trade represents a 7.99% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William Jr. Werzyn purchased 8,000 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.81 per share, for a total transaction of $94,480.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 22,970 shares in the company, valued at $271,275.70. This represents a 53.44% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 16.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,441 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Utz Brands by 112.7% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 4,078 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Utz Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $144,000. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Utz Brands Price Performance

NYSE:UTZ opened at $13.15 on Wednesday. Utz Brands has a 52 week low of $11.53 and a 52 week high of $18.89. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16. Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The business had revenue of $352.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $345.44 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. Utz Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Utz Brands will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.061 dividend. This is a positive change from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.00%.

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.