Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 5,225 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 22.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,240 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,225 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 22,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 4.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 27,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FLO. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $18.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.33 and a 1 year high of $26.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.30.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 4.86%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.05%.

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.