Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Shares Acquired by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 296,100 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,400 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc owned approximately 0.21% of Utz Brands worth $5,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $914,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $907,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 45.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 239,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 74,633 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,238,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,607,000 after purchasing an additional 223,462 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Utz Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $890,000. 95.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on UTZ shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Utz Brands from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.22.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

NYSE UTZ opened at $17.48 on Wednesday. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.45 and a 1-year high of $20.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -91.63, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $365.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.98 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. Utz Brands’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.061 dividend. This is an increase from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -126.32%.

Insider Activity at Utz Brands

In other Utz Brands news, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 2,815,404 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 496,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,576,497.02. This represents a 85.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Cary Devore sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.32, for a total value of $519,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 451,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,813,346.44. This trade represents a 6.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.