Insider Selling: Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Director Sells 66,027 Shares of Stock

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 66,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.45, for a total transaction of $1,284,225.15. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,315,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,040,228.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Utz Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UTZ opened at $18.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.33. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.17 and a 12 month high of $20.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.18, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.97.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $346.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $346.99 million. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a positive return on equity of 6.16%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.059 dividend. This is a boost from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -96.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on UTZ shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Utz Brands from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. DA Davidson started coverage on Utz Brands in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Utz Brands from $20.50 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.42.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 594,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,986,000 after buying an additional 191,441 shares during the period. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands during the third quarter worth $698,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Utz Brands by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,952,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,946,000 after purchasing an additional 199,472 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Utz Brands by 96.5% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 409,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 200,850 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the third quarter valued at about $852,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

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.