Shares of Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ – Get Rating) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. Approximately 15,720 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 97% from the previous session's volume of 560,266 shares.The stock last traded at $16.47 and had previously closed at $16.19.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.054 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 16th. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Utz Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on Utz Brands to $19.00 in a research note on Monday, August 15th. Stephens boosted their target price on Utz Brands from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Utz Brands from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday, August 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.83.

Utz Brands Price Performance

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 11th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $350.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $335.39 million. Utz Brands had a net margin of 0.85% and a return on equity of 5.19%. Utz Brands's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. Research analysts expect that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Utz Brands news, Director Roger K. Deromedi sold 15,678 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.64, for a total transaction of $307,915.92. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,277,988 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,379,684.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 17.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Utz Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UTZ. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 591,383 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,432,000 after acquiring an additional 23,284 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Utz Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Utz Brands by 418.3% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 133,525 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 107,761 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Utz Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $189,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Utz Brands by 105.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 168,276 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,684,000 after purchasing an additional 86,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.14% of the company's stock.

About Utz Brands

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Utz Brands, Inc operates as a snack food manufacturing company. It offers a range of salty snacks, including potato chips, kettle chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, veggie snacks, pork skins, pub/party mixes, salsa and queso, ready-to-eat popcorn, and other snacks under the Utz, Zapp's, ON THE BORDER, Golden Flake, Good Health, Boulder Canyon, Hawaiian, TGIF, TORTIYAHS!, and other brand names.

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