Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Down 37.5% in October

by · The Cerbat Gem

Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ – Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,574,410 shares, a decrease of 37.5% from the September 30th total of 7,314,025 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,942,359 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 3.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Utz Brands by 17.8% in the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 4,063,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,183,000 after buying an additional 613,699 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Utz Brands by 26.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 796,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,309,000 after buying an additional 167,958 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in Utz Brands by 195.5% during the first quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 849,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,728,000 after buying an additional 561,961 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Utz Brands during the second quarter valued at $1,068,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Utz Brands by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 937,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,421,000 after acquiring an additional 356,428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

Utz Brands Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE UTZ traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $14.29. 1,117,712 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,360,591. Utz Brands has a 1 year low of $6.78 and a 1 year high of $14.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.32 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.41.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $371.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $374.18 million. Utz Brands had a positive return on equity of 8.97% and a negative net margin of 2.00%. Utz Brands’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Utz Brands will post 0.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a $0.0630 dividend. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -75.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on UTZ shares. Piper Sandler cut shares of Utz Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $14.25 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Utz Brands from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. DA Davidson cut shares of Utz Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $14.25 in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays lowered shares of Utz Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $14.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Utz Brands from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.39.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on UTZ

About Utz Brands

(Get Free Report)

Utz Brands, Inc is a U.S.-based snack food company that manufactures, markets and distributes a broad portfolio of branded salty snacks. Its products include potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, pork rinds, popcorn and other snack items sold through grocery stores, mass merchants, club stores, convenience stores and e-commerce channels.

The company’s brand portfolio includes Utz, Zapp’s, Boulder Canyon, On the Border, Golden Flake, Good Health and Hawaiian, among others.

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