Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Here's What Happened

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $13.37 and last traded at $13.94, with a volume of 1296538 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.44.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UTZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Utz Brands from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.40.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.51, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock's 50 day moving average is $16.30 and its 200 day moving average is $16.59.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 7.25% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The company had revenue of $365.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. Utz Brands's revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.061 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Utz Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Utz Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently -126.32%.

Insider Transactions at Utz Brands

In related news, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 2,815,404 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total transaction of $48,678,335.16. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 496,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,576,497.02. This trade represents a 85.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Cary Devore sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.32, for a total transaction of $519,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 451,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,813,346.44. This trade represents a 6.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UTZ. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 9.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,758,961 shares of the company's stock worth $31,256,000 after purchasing an additional 152,868 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its position in Utz Brands by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 296,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,241,000 after purchasing an additional 30,400 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Utz Brands by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,548,231 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,409,000 after purchasing an additional 47,320 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $907,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 21.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 555,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,831,000 after purchasing an additional 97,767 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.97% of the company's stock.

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.