Insider Buying: Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) CEO Purchases 7,200 Shares of Stock

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) CEO Howard Friedman purchased 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.58 per share, for a total transaction of $76,176.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 66,298 shares in the company, valued at $701,432.84. This trade represents a 12.18% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Utz Brands Stock Down 2.8%

UTZ traded down $0.29 on Tuesday, hitting $10.11. The company had a trading volume of 2,411,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,141,680. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.94. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.06 and a 12-month high of $18.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.00.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Utz Brands had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 0.39%.The firm had revenue of $377.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Utz Brands has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.824-0.847 EPS. Analysts predict that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.061 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Utz Brands by 16.1% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in Utz Brands by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 109,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Utz Brands by 37.6% in the second quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on UTZ shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Utz Brands from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lowered their target price on Utz Brands from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Friday. Mizuho set a $16.00 price target on Utz Brands in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.64.

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.