Barclays Cuts Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Price Target to $17.00

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.20.

Utz Brands Stock Up 2.5 %

UTZ opened at $14.26 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.53. The company has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of -75.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.03. Utz Brands has a 1 year low of $13.36 and a 1 year high of $20.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 7.25%. The company had revenue of $365.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. Utz Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Utz Brands will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.061 per share. This is a positive change from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is presently -126.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Cary Devore sold 30,000 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.32, for a total transaction of $519,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 451,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,813,346.44. The trade was a 6.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 2,815,404 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total value of $48,678,335.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 496,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,576,497.02. This trade represents a 85.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $80,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Utz Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $142,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $169,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $185,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $187,000. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Utz Brands Company Profile

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.