Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Sells 3,768 Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lowered its stake in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,768 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC owned 0.06% of Utz Brands worth $1,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UTZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,110,000 after purchasing an additional 28,484 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Utz Brands by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 196,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,474,000 after acquiring an additional 11,641 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Utz Brands by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,758,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,256,000 after acquiring an additional 152,868 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Utz Brands by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 555,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,831,000 after acquiring an additional 97,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc lifted its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 296,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,241,000 after purchasing an additional 30,400 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on UTZ. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Utz Brands from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Utz Brands from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective 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. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Utz Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.25.

Utz Brands Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:UTZ opened at $14.12 on Friday. Utz Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.71 and a 52 week high of $20.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.42, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $13.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a $0.011 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Utz Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Utz Brands

In related news, CEO Howard A. Friedman acquired 3,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.16 per share, with a total value of $49,914.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $6,646,909.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 16.32% of the company’s stock.

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.