Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Sets New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $13.34 and last traded at $13.36, with a volume of 748253 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $13.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on UTZ. Piper Sandler cut their target price 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, January 16th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Utz Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.20.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.83 and a 200 day moving average of $16.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.69, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.03.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $365.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.98 million. Utz Brands had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 7.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.061 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -126.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Utz Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Utz Brands in the second quarter worth about $80,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $142,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Utz Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $169,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Utz Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $185,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Utz Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. 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.