Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $2.33 Million Stake in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its holdings in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,253 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.10% of Utz Brands worth $2,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in Utz Brands by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 188,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,065,000 after acquiring an additional 26,282 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new position in Utz Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Utz Brands by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 3,881 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in Utz Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $167,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Utz Brands by 1,428.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 5,115 shares during the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Utz Brands

In related news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 3,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.13, for a total value of $72,407.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,399,470 shares in the company, valued at $65,031,861.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 13,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.03, for a total transaction of $255,877.38. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,548,704 shares in the company, valued at $67,531,837.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 3,785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.13, for a total transaction of $72,407.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,399,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,031,861.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 609,181 shares of company stock worth $10,754,925 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America raised shares of Utz Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Utz Brands in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Utz Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.63.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Utz Brands stock opened at $18.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Utz Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.17 and a twelve month high of $19.21. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -60.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s fifty day moving average is $18.05 and its 200 day moving average is $15.94.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $352.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.63 million. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 6.08% and a negative net margin of 1.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Utz Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.059 dividend. This is a positive change from Utz Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Utz Brands’s payout ratio is presently -77.42%.

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.