Utz Brands (UTZ) Competitors

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) and Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) are both mid-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, community ranking, earnings and profitability.

Does the media prefer UTZ or FRPT?

In the previous week, Freshpet had 16 more articles in the media than Utz Brands. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for Freshpet and 1 mentions for Utz Brands. Freshpet's average media sentiment score of 0.88 beat Utz Brands' score of 0.81 indicating that Freshpet is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Utz Brands	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Freshpet	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is UTZ or FRPT more profitable?

Freshpet has a net margin of 4.75% compared to Utz Brands' net margin of -0.99%. Utz Brands' return on equity of 7.25% beat Freshpet's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Utz Brands	-0.99%	7.25%	3.78%
Freshpet	4.75%	3.67%	2.42%

Do analysts prefer UTZ or FRPT?

Utz Brands presently has a consensus price target of $21.22, indicating a potential upside of 30.20%. Freshpet has a consensus price target of $157.80, indicating a potential upside of 5.20%. Given Utz Brands' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Utz Brands is more favorable than Freshpet.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Utz Brands	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78
Freshpet	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

Which has more risk & volatility, UTZ or FRPT?

Utz Brands has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Freshpet has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in UTZ or FRPT?

96.0% of Utz Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.0% of Utz Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Freshpet shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, UTZ or FRPT?

Utz Brands has higher revenue and earnings than Freshpet. Utz Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Freshpet, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Utz Brands	$1.44B	1.60	-$24.94M	-$0.19	-85.79
Freshpet	$766.90M	9.49	-$33.61M	$0.89	168.54

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer UTZ or FRPT?

Freshpet received 439 more outperform votes than Utz Brands when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 62.98% of users gave Freshpet an outperform vote while only 62.22% of users gave Utz Brands an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Utz Brands	Outperform Votes 56 62.22%	Underperform Votes 34 37.78%
Freshpet	Outperform Votes 495 62.98%	Underperform Votes 291 37.02%

Summary

Freshpet beats Utz Brands on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.