Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the four brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.75.

FLO has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Flowers Foods from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on Flowers Foods in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:FLO traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $25.43. 290,356 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,173,032. Flowers Foods has a 12-month low of $19.64 and a 12-month high of $29.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.72, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.37. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.66.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 2.42%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Flowers Foods will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.62%.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In other Flowers Foods news, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey bought 5,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.55 per share, with a total value of $117,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 20,330 shares in the company, valued at $478,771.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.11, for a total value of $845,294.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $987,721.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.55 per share, for a total transaction of $117,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $478,771.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 11.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,148,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,533,000 after purchasing an additional 84,001 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 4,583,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,171,000 after buying an additional 1,238,749 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,690,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,069,000 after purchasing an additional 37,237 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,616,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,401,000 after purchasing an additional 18,730 shares during the period. Finally, Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 3,276,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,755,000 after purchasing an additional 125,761 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

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.