Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by TD Cowen

TD Cowen downgraded shares of Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $15.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $17.00.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Utz Brands from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.00.

Utz Brands Price Performance

Shares of UTZ opened at $13.55 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.08. Utz Brands has a 1-year low of $12.15 and a 1-year high of $20.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 75.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.10.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $349.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Utz Brands will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.011 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is 133.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 496,038 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.40, for a total value of $6,646,909.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Howard A. Friedman purchased 3,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.16 per share, with a total value of $49,914.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 265,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,762,722.64. This represents a 1.34 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 16.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UTZ. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,548,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,409,000 after acquiring an additional 47,320 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 21.4% in the third 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Utz Brands by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,510,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,654,000 after buying an additional 36,425 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Utz Brands by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 885,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,422,000 after buying an additional 30,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Utz Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $339,000. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.