Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $14.33 and last traded at $14.3150, with a volume of 1,631,766 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $14.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UTZ. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Utz Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $14.25 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays cut Utz Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $14.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Utz Brands in a report on Monday, September 21st. Stephens set a $14.25 price target on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $14.25 price target (up from $10.00) on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Utz Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.39.

Utz Brands Trading Down 0.1%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $14.21 and a 200 day moving average of $10.27. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of -43.35 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 8.97% and a negative net margin of 2.00%. The business had revenue of $371.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.18 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.80 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a $0.0630 dividend. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -75.76%.

Institutional Trading of Utz Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Utz Brands by 318.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 2,879 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 127.9% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 117,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,000 after buying an additional 65,712 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 61.0% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 356,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,749,000 after buying an additional 135,239 shares in the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Utz Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Utz Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,068,000. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Utz Brands Company Profile

Utz Brands, Inc is a U.S.-based manufacturer and distributor of branded snack foods. The company produces and markets potato chips, tortilla chips, cheese snacks, pretzels, popcorn, pork snacks, and other salty snacks through a portfolio of brands that includes Utz, Zapp’s, Boulder Canyon, Golden Flake, Bachman, and Tim’s Cascade Snacks.

Utz products are sold through grocery stores, mass merchants, club stores, convenience stores, drugstores, and e-commerce channels. The company serves consumers primarily in the United States and distributes its snacks through a combination of direct-store delivery, warehouse distribution, and third-party arrangements.

Founded in 1921 by William and Salie Utz in Hanover, Pennsylvania, the company has expanded through organic growth and acquisitions of established regional snack businesses.