Dean Investment Associates LLC Decreases Stock Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Dean Investment Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 120,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,547 shares during the quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $2,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 112,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 22,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of FLO stock opened at $18.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.33 and a 52 week high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FLO shares. StockNews.com lowered Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson cut their target price on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered 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 given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

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.