Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Makes New $397,000 Investment in Utz Brands, Inc. $UTZ

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. acquired a new position in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $397,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UTZ. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its position 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 worth $25,066,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,180 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Utz Brands by 249.9% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,658,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,571 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in 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 worth $36,979,000 after purchasing an additional 875,847 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Utz Brands by 261.5% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 994,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,322,000 after buying an additional 719,361 shares during the period. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Utz Brands by 17.8% during the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 4,063,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,183,000 after buying an additional 613,699 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on UTZ shares. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $14.25 price objective (up from $10.00) on shares of Utz Brands in a report on Thursday. Stephens set a $14.25 target price on Utz Brands in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $14.25 target price on shares of Utz Brands in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Utz Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $14.25 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $14.25 price target (down from $15.00) on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.39.

Key Stories Impacting Utz Brands

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 Price Performance

Shares of Utz Brands stock opened at $14.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of -140.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.82. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.78 and a 12-month high of $14.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.43.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.76 million. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 0.58% and a positive return on equity of 8.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. Utz Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.771-0.795 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were given a dividend of $0.063 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -250.00%.

Utz Brands 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.