Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Short Interest Down 26.1% in February

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,440,000 shares, a drop of 26.1% from the February 13th total of 7,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days. Currently, 7.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Utz Brands by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 143,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,251,000 after acquiring an additional 6,268 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in Utz Brands during the 4th quarter worth $512,000. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Utz Brands by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 35,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 2,282 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Utz Brands by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 18,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 6,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position 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 buying an additional 1,596 shares during the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Utz Brands Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Utz Brands stock traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $13.29. The company had a trading volume of 672,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 777,848. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $13.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.86. The firm has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 73.82, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. Utz Brands has a 52-week low of $12.71 and a 52-week high of $20.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last announced 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 net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm had revenue of $341.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Utz Brands will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho lowered their price target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Utz Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.25.

Utz Brands Company Profile

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.