Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Price Target to $20.00

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) had its price objective lowered by Royal Bank of Canada from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Utz Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.30.

Utz Brands Price Performance

Utz Brands stock opened at $13.96 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.54, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. Utz Brands has a 1 year low of $12.71 and a 1 year high of $20.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.17.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.03. Utz Brands had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 1.13%. The business had revenue of $341.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Utz Brands will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.061 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. This is a positive change from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Howard A. Friedman bought 3,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.16 per share, with a total value of $49,914.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 265,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,762,722.64. This trade represents a 1.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 17.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Utz Brands by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 27,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 5,278 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Utz Brands by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 116,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after buying an additional 16,201 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in Utz Brands by 100.0% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 165,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,936,000 after acquiring an additional 82,935 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 19.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,474,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,091,000 after purchasing an additional 235,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Utz Brands by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 243,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,304,000 after purchasing an additional 72,756 shares during the period. 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.