Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Price Target to $23.00

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $19.00 to $23.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a neutral rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC boosted 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. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $19.83.

Utz Brands Trading Down 1.6 %

Utz Brands stock opened at $19.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.01 and a 200-day moving average of $16.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Utz Brands has a one year low of $11.17 and a one year high of $20.04.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued 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 firm 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 6.13% and a negative net margin of 1.38%. The business’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 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Utz Brands will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.059 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. This is an increase from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -92.00%.

Insider Activity at Utz Brands

In other Utz Brands news, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total value of $1,641,622.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,556,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,299,541.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 13,446 shares of Utz Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.03, for a total transaction of $255,877.38. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,548,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,531,837.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Chinh Chu sold 92,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total value of $1,641,622.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,556,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,299,541.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 609,181 shares of company stock worth $10,754,925. Corporate insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 47.5% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 594,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,986,000 after acquiring an additional 191,441 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in Utz Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $698,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Utz Brands by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,952,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,946,000 after buying an additional 199,472 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Utz Brands by 96.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 409,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after buying an additional 200,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the third quarter valued at about $852,000. 95.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.