Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 244,337 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,023 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.12% of Flowers Foods worth $5,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FLO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Flowers Foods by 2.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,913,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,657,000 after acquiring an additional 426,547 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Flowers Foods by 1.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 19,313,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,389,000 after acquiring an additional 243,602 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Flowers Foods by 206.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,286,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,823,000 after acquiring an additional 11,637,370 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 8.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,999,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,254,000 after acquiring an additional 450,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Flowers Foods by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 4,583,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,749 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FLO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Flowers Foods in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Flowers Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 1.0 %

Flowers Foods stock opened at $22.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.39. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.64 and a 12 month high of $29.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.62%.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

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

About Flowers Foods

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.