Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Shares Sold by Alaska Permanent Fund Corp

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lowered its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 115,532 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,676 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp owned 0.05% of Flowers Foods worth $2,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mastrapasqua Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mastrapasqua Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 46.4% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 57,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,271,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, AM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 11,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $24.93. 63,391 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,168,925. The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.38. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.64 and a fifty-two week high of $29.10.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.20. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 2.42%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. Flowers Foods’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 158.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flowers Foods news, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.55 per share, for a total transaction of $117,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,330 shares in the company, valued at $478,771.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey acquired 5,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.55 per share, for a total transaction of $117,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 20,330 shares in the company, valued at $478,771.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.11, for a total value of $845,294.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $987,721.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on FLO shares. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Flowers Foods in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. Its principal products include fresh breads, buns, rolls, snack items, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas, as well as frozen breads and rolls under the Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs.