Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Short Interest Up 20.3% in March

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,330,000 shares, an increase of 20.3% from the March 15th total of 4,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 7.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Howard A. Friedman acquired 3,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $14.16 per share, for a total transaction of $49,914.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 265,729 shares in the company, valued at $3,762,722.64. This trade represents a 1.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 496,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.40, for a total transaction of $6,646,909.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 16.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Utz Brands

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UTZ. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in Utz Brands by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 15,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,280 shares of the company's stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares during the last quarter. Newton One Investments LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 95,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 39,879 shares of the company's stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 1,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson raised Utz Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday. Mizuho lowered their price target on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Utz Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.56.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Utz Brands stock traded up $0.32 on Thursday, reaching $13.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,412,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 873,671. Utz Brands has a fifty-two week low of $12.15 and a fifty-two week high of $20.04. The business's 50-day moving average price is $13.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.07. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.10.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $341.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $349.93 million. Utz Brands had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 7.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Utz Brands will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.011 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Utz Brands's dividend payout ratio is 133.33%.

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.