Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Short Interest Update

by · The Markets Daily

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ – Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,440,000 shares, a decrease of 26.1% from the February 13th total of 7,360,000 shares. Currently, 7.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,040,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days.

Insider Transactions at Utz Brands

In related news, insider Cc Collier Holdings, Llc sold 496,038 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.40, for a total value of $6,646,909.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Howard A. Friedman bought 3,525 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.16 per share, for a total transaction of $49,914.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 265,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,762,722.64. The trade was a 1.34 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utz Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UTZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Utz Brands by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,923,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,079,000 after buying an additional 1,025,656 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,110,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,376,000 after acquiring an additional 698,589 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,208,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,564,000 after buying an additional 620,196 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 157.9% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 612,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,591,000 after buying an additional 375,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,474,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,091,000 after buying an additional 235,622 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on UTZ. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Utz Brands from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.25.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Utz Brands

Utz Brands Trading Up 1.3 %

Utz Brands stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Monday, reaching $13.47. The company had a trading volume of 696,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 777,523. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.86, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. Utz Brands has a 12-month low of $12.71 and a 12-month high of $20.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.83.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.03. Utz Brands had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 1.13%. The business had revenue of $341.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.93 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Utz Brands will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Utz Brands

(Get Free Report)

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.

Read More