449,600 Shares in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Acquired by Readystate Asset Management LP

Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 449,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,302,000. Readystate Asset Management LP owned approximately 0.32% of Utz Brands at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new stake in Utz Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Utz Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 120.2% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 104.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delta Asset Management LLC TN increased its position in Utz Brands by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

NYSE UTZ traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $17.35. The company had a trading volume of 505,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 801,659. Utz Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.17 and a fifty-two week high of $19.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.69. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.97.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $352.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.63 million. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 6.08% and a negative net margin of 1.73%. Utz Brands’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.059 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -77.42%.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UTZ. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America upgraded Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Utz Brands from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on Utz Brands in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Utz Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.63.

Utz Brands Company Profile

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.