Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Stephens

Stephens cut shares of Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

UTZ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Utz Brands from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson raised shares of Utz Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $15.00 price target on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.39.

Utz Brands Stock Up 0.2%

UTZ opened at $14.09 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.14. Utz Brands has a one year low of $6.78 and a one year high of $14.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -140.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.82.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $361.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.76 million. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 8.61% and a negative net margin of 0.58%.The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. Utz Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.771-0.795 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Utz Brands will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were paid a $0.063 dividend. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 22nd. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -250.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UTZ. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in Utz Brands by 105.2% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,414,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,066,000 after buying an additional 1,238,180 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 249.9% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,658,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,571 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 42.3% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,946,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,979,000 after acquiring an additional 875,847 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 261.5% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 994,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,322,000 after acquiring an additional 719,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 17.8% during the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 4,063,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,183,000 after acquiring an additional 613,699 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Utz Brands News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Utz Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Utz announced a take-private agreement with Intersnack at $14.25 per share, which lifted the stock sharply as investors priced in the acquisition premium. Utz Will Go Private in $2.9B Deal With Intersnack
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler reaffirmed a neutral rating but raised its price target to $14.25 from $10.00, effectively aligning its target with the deal price and reinforcing the transaction’s valuation. Piper Sandler rating update
• Neutral Sentiment: Several law firms announced investigations into whether the buyout price and process were fair to shareholders, which may add headline noise but does not change the announced terms. Kaskela Law Alert
• Neutral Sentiment: Other reports focused on the deal and cited UTZ’s move to go private, keeping attention on the acquisition rather than operations or earnings. Baltimore favorite Utz plans to go private in deal valued at nearly $3B
• Negative Sentiment: DA Davidson, Barclays, and Stephens all downgraded the stock or moved to a more cautious stance, suggesting less upside beyond the deal price and reflecting uncertainty around the transaction. Barclays Downgrades Utz Brands

Utz Brands Company Profile

Utz Brands, Inc is a leading U.S. manufacturer and distributor of salty snack foods, offering a wide range of products including potato chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, popcorn and tortilla chips. Headquartered in Hanover, Pennsylvania, the company markets its snacks under several well-known brands and serves grocery, mass merchandise, club, convenience and online retailers throughout the United States.

Founded in 1921 by Bill and Salie Utz as a small country store operation, the business expanded gradually through direct delivery to local customers and sales to regional grocers.