Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Price Target Raised to $23.00

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) had its price target increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $19.00 to $23.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on UTZ. Bank of America upgraded shares of Utz Brands from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Utz Brands from $20.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson began coverage on Utz Brands in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a neutral rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $20.42.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

NYSE UTZ opened at $19.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.04, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Utz Brands has a twelve month low of $11.17 and a twelve month high of $20.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.28.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $346.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $346.99 million. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 6.16% and a negative net margin of 1.38%. Utz Brands’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Utz Brands will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.059 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is a positive change from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is -96.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 3,785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.13, for a total value of $72,407.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,399,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,031,861.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 3,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.13, for a total transaction of $72,407.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,399,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,031,861.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 32,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.10, for a total transaction of $612,193.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,516,652 shares in the company, valued at $67,168,053.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 675,208 shares of company stock valued at $12,039,150. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 120.2% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,891 shares during the last quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Utz Brands by 1,428.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 5,115 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Utz Brands by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $136,000. 95.97% of the stock is 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.