Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut Utz Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Stephens set a $14.25 price objective on shares of Utz Brands in a report on Tuesday. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Utz Brands in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $14.25 target price (down from $15.00) on shares of Utz Brands in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.39.

Utz Brands Stock Performance

Shares of UTZ stock opened at $14.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -140.94, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $7.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Utz Brands has a 12 month low of $6.78 and a 12 month high of $14.44.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 8.61% and a negative net margin of 0.58%.The company had revenue of $361.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.76 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. Utz Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Utz Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.771-0.795 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Utz Brands will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd were given a $0.063 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio is -250.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Utz Brands by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 140,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,711,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 109,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 1,137 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 76.1% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Utz Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

More Utz Brands News

Here are the key news stories impacting Utz Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $14.25, implying the stock is trading near the proposed buyout value and suggesting limited additional downside from current levels.
• Neutral Sentiment: Utz announced it will go private in a $2.9 billion transaction with Intersnack Group, giving the buyer a major U.S. snacking foothold and effectively setting a deal price ceiling for the shares.
• Negative Sentiment: Several firms are investigating the merger, with Brodsky & Smith, Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, and Kaskela Law all questioning whether the $14.25 offer undervalues Utz Brands shareholders. Article: Brodsky & Smith Shareholder Update
• Negative Sentiment: Piper Sandler downgraded Utz Brands from strong-buy to hold, while DA Davidson cut its rating from buy to hold and Barclays and Stephens both downgraded the stock to equal weight, reflecting more cautious views after the deal announcement.

About Utz Brands

Utz Brands, Inc is a leading U.S. manufacturer and distributor of salty snack foods, offering a wide range of products including potato chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, popcorn and tortilla chips. Headquartered in Hanover, Pennsylvania, the company markets its snacks under several well-known brands and serves grocery, mass merchandise, club, convenience and online retailers throughout the United States.

Founded in 1921 by Bill and Salie Utz as a small country store operation, the business expanded gradually through direct delivery to local customers and sales to regional grocers.